The Holy Grail of the Gods(FateStay Night,Supernatural,SMITE)crossover
by Golden Truth Bearer
Summary: The 5th Holy Grail war has ended long ago and the remaining masters are living their lives peacefully. But an unexpected event is going to bring tragedy to their doorstep once again. A new Holy Grail War has begun without anyone noticing, new servants and masters are brought forth to fight in this war while old masters join the fight in order to discover what is going on.
1. Introduction

**Hello Everyone,**

This fanfiction is a **TRIPLE CROSSOVER** between Fate/Stay Night, Supernatural and SMITE.

In order to **understand the story**, you need to know about the** first two fandoms ONLY.**

**Whether you play SMITE or not**, it won't affect your reading experience.

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**Clarifications:**

-The Fate universe is based on the third route from the visual novel which is the Sakura's route and before you start wondering, everyone who died in the game remain dead, this includes Ilya, Kirei and all the servants except for Rider who is alive at the end of the third route.

-The Supernatural universe is a continuation of season 9. I won't write any spoilers, but anyone who have seen it should probably remember a certain important thing that happened in the last episode of that season. A part of the story is based on that event, so if you don't remember it, I suggest you go refresh your memory by re-watching the episode or reading its summary.

-Finally, SMITE is an online moba game, like League of Legends and DOTA, but its playable characters are gods from the mythology and instead of isometric camera, it is played in third-person like a classical RPG. The gods of SMITE will serve as the servants in this story. This means that I will be using their SMITE models and their in-game abilities_(spells)_ as a reference in the story.

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**Summary:  
**The story takes place in our time. A decade had passed since the fifth Holy Grail war in Fuyuki and now the remaining masters - Shirou, Sakura, Tohsaka- are living their lives peacefully. But an unexpected tragedy knocks on their door once again.

Has a new Holy Grail War has begun without anyone noticing?

How do the Winchesters get involved into this crazy magical ritual in the faraway land of Japan?

How will the King Of Hell, Crowley and the fallen angel Castiel affect those battles?

New servants and masters are brought forth to fight in this war while old masters join the fight in order to discover what is going on.

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**That's it for the introduction!**

If you decide to read my story, be sure to let me me know what you think about it from time to time.  
Commments about the plot's development, the characters' interactions, the narration and of course what do you think of the plot personally.

Constructive criticism always helps!

**Happy Reading! :)**

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**PROGRESS LOG (posted 10/9/1016)**

I am currently in the proccess of rewriting some of the older chapters, because after re-reading a couple of them there were tons of stuff that made me cringe, like syntax, grammar etc. So, I decided to I re-write some of them in my spare time, because I know that just like me there are a lot of people who won't read a story if it is poorly written.

As for my main fanfic _"The Holy Grail of the Gods" - _**it is currently on hold** until I am done with my exams which means that **surely until early October** there **won't** be any new updates. I wrote half a chapter before leaving for my vacations in August, but it still needs refinement, so my estimation _\- if all goes well-_ is that the **next update** will be around the end of October.

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**DISCLAIMER: **

**I DO NOT OWN** any of these series or the characters appearing in them, all the rights belong to their respective creators; Type-Moon, Hirez studios and Eric Cripke. I can claim the plot however.


	2. A happy life (part 1)

6 am Friday, Fuyuki City,2014

Emiya Shirou had just woken up from his night sleep. Even though his work started at 8, he always woke up earlier to complete his daily routine, which included his physical workout and magus training. Shirou is a 25 years old man with brown eyes and short red hair, he is not really tall but he is strong and well built.

Shirou lives in a manor which belonged to his deceased father Emiya Kiritsugu. It is a traditional japanese house with sliding doors covered with white sheets and the floor is made of wood. Inside the main building there are the bedrooms, the bath and the kitchen which is connected with the living room. There are also three other buildings inside the perimeter of the land. The  
quests' house which is located in the left side of the main building, the dojo where Shirou's workouts take place and the shed where he trains his magic skills. In the front side there is a big grassy garden, this garden in very important for as it holds precious memories of him and his father. Shirou spent many summer nights with his father in this garden, eating watermelons, chatting about childish stuff and gazing upon the starry sky. Even though Kiritsugu spent most of the time silent, listening to the kid's blabbering, he always responded when he was asked and always with a gentle fatherly smile on his face.

Shirou stood up stretched his body and started tidying up the room, he placed the futon (traditional Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses) inside the closet, got dressed and reached his arm to open the sliding door.

"Today is the big day", he thought as he was heading towards the kitchen.

As he arrived there the sizzling sound of bacon reached his ears and the smell of scrambled eggs and toasted bread excited his nose. Usually Shirou was the one who cooked breakfast, in general he preferred eastern dishes over western, but since he was not the one who cooked today he had no choice but to go with the flow, it is not that he didn't like western type dishes, but he believed that there were too "heavy " for his own tastes.

In the kitchen he saw Sakura his girlfriend with whom he lived together, preparing breakfast while humming her favorite song, Sakura is a year younger than Shirou, she has long straight purplish hair and eyes and a physique that many Japanese women would be jealous of considering that her sizes are well above the average rate in Japan and the are in perfect symmetry with her body as a whole. He sneaked up behind her, hugged her around the waist and kissed her good morning.

"Good morning", he said as his lips touched the smooth skin of her cheek.

"Good morning', she replied as she returned him the kiss in the cheek with one in the mouth, the sweetness of her lips made him remember last night when they broke their personal record in the numbers of times they had sex in one night.

"How was your sleep?" Sakura asked in a happy voice.

"After last night, it couldn't have been better", said smiling.

Sakura blushed. Even though Shirou didn't see her face, but he just knew it, after his reply she turned around her face back to the kitchen. He knew Sakura for so long that he understood immediately that this was her _"embarrassed"_ reaction.

His thoughts interrupted another person who had just entered the room, it was Rider. Rider was Sakura's servant in the last Holy Grail War, normally Servants disappear after the war ends, but Rider managed to stay after that thanks to the vast amounts of magical energy Sakura has, considering the fact that her overwhelmingly large magical power nearly destroyed both her body and mind during the War, its remains are more than enough to provide a single Servant with magical energy in order to keep her physical form.

Rider was taller than both of them. She looked a lot like Sakura as they both had straight purplish hair and eyes but the ridiculous length of her hair and her even more than Sakura's stacked body were the reasons that anyone who met her was rendered speechless for a few moments, no matter the gender. As for her age, it doesn't really matter since she's a Heroic Spirit from the past.

"Good morn..", but before she finished her sentence, she saw them hugged together kissing and whispering lovey dovey things to one another.

"Oooh I see you two lovebirds are busy maybe I should wait outside until you finish your business" she said while grinning.

Sakura jumped surprised at Rider's voice and nearly stepped on Shirou's toe while at it "G-Good morning Rider, I didn't notice you entering" She greeted her in an embarrassed voice as she pushed gently Shirou back.

Although Rider is part of the family and they both know her for nearly 10 years, Sakura can't get past that side of her that makes her feel embarrassed when she is seen doing this kind of things, even if those things is an innocent kiss.

Rider went ahead and took seat. "I see we are having western type breakfast today, you don't know how much I missed the taste of bacon and scrambled eggs" she said as she opened the newspaper she brought with her, she brushed her hair from her eyes and started reading.

Shirou watching the scene unfold, remembered that he had training to do so he informed them that he's going to hit the dojo and that he will be back in about an hour or so, both nodded at his words, as he left the kitchen, leaving Sakura cooking and Rider reading her newspaper.

Shirou's daily routine is partly habit, partly job, partly preparation in case something happens. He works as PE teacher in Homurahara Gakuen high school in Fuyuki City and he is also a magus. Truth is he is not really into magic, but he always want to be prepared in case something dangerous happens, like the events of Holy Grail War in 2005 or the Apocalypse crisis in 2010.

As a PE teacher Shirou ought to be always in top shape and that is something that no one could question. His physical condition is top notch. But as magus he was hardly ranked average, he had tried using several types of magic but he failed in all of them so he decided to stick with the only thing he knew he could do, which was to replicate things and copy their abilities. This was also the reason he started training in swordsmanship.

While dematerializing Caladbolg, the sword he had created, Shirou thought about tonight  
_"Yeah, tonight is the most important night in my life, I mustn't screw things up."  
_He started listing his preparations out loud in order to make sure that he hasn't forgotten anything "Reservation in restaurant check, costume check, engagement ring check."

Tonight he was going to ask Sakura the grand question, to live the rest of her life with him. Only the thought of asking that question made him incredibly nervous, he looked like a student right before an important exam. Rider's voice asking him to come out for breakfast snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Everything will be okay, imagine if Tohsaka had seen my face right now, I bet that her teasing would be insufferable and worst of all she wouldn't probably forget about it as easily as she usually does" He mumbled to himself, as he headed for the exit of the shed.


	3. A happy life (part 2)

Shirou emerged out of the shed and the bright sunlight made him blink twice, Rider was standing outside the shed's door waiting for him.

"How was the training?" she asked.

"Fine" He replied as they started walking back to the kitchen.

On the way back Shirou suddenly stopped "Mm... Rider... I have something to tell you" He said in a rather awkward voice.

She tilted her head in question _"What's with that tone? _Sure, tell me." She replied casually.

As she was taller than him, Shirou had to turn his head up, in order to look her straight in her eyes. After all, what he was about to announce her, wasn't something that you just say casually every day. Especially if that someone is Rider, Sakura's loyal Servant who had sworn to protect her from any harm and make sure that she is always happy and well.  
But he had made up his mind, there was no turning back now, his resolve was adamant.

"I'm asking Sakura into marriage tonight." He said confidently.

A few moments of silence followed his statement. He couldn't look away now, even though his whole body was telling him otherwise. Rider reaction was pretty much what he had anticipated, she was staring at him with a somewhat surprised look on her face. He had already prepared himself for the whole  
_"Are you sure?"  
"This is a very major step for both her and you should think things over" _part and had his answers ready. Instead, her reply was melody to his ears.

"Good Luck!" accompanied by a beautiful bright smile.

Shirou was in a loss of words, for a moment he was ready to ask her if she was feeling well or if she was sick but Rider's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"So why are telling me this? Do you need something done from me?" She asked him.

Shirou then with renewed confidence made his request to her.  
"You see I have ordered a new suit for tonight, but the store manager said that it won't arrive until tomorrow. I asked him if there was a way that I could have it today and he said that the only way was to drive to the airport where it is stashed and get it from here. Naturally I can't go since I'm working in the morning and it is 6 hour drive back and forth, so I thought that if you are available today maybe you could do me this favor?  
It is a really big favor I know, so it is ok to refuse. I understand that you have your own life now and you have things you want to do. I can always wear one of my other suits, so it is really ok if you don't want to go."

"Of course! You can count on me! I will do everything in my power, so that the two of you will have the night of your dreams!" She replied with a passionate voice.

"Thank you Rider, when you bring it home , try to be discreet, don't let Sakura see you please." She nodded in agreement. With that their conversation ended and they headed back to the kitchen pretending as if this conversation never happened.

Upon their arrival, they heard Sakura talking out loud, they assumed that she was speaking to the phone. Their guess proved to be true, because as they entered the room, they saw Sakura holding the phone in her right ear while drawing circles on the air with the other hand. She had a huge smile on her face and you could easily tell that she was really happy with what she had received some good news.

"Who is it?" Shirou asked curiously.

Rider was also curious to know, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she tried to keep her cool demeanor and started reading the newspaper she had already finished reading a little while ago, while also trying to overhear the conversation by hiding her face behind its pages.

Sakura turned to face them "Guess who's coming back tomorrow…." She said happily as she put the phone in speaker.

"Ah Sakura you ruined the surprise." A familiar womans's voice spoke through the phone, sounding disappointed.

Both Shirou's and Rider's eyes opened wide in surprise.

The voice spoke again jokingly  
"I told Sakura not to tell you guys I'm coming back tomorrow so I could surprise you. I was really curious how you would react upon my sudden arrival, especially you Emiya-kun. Well, figures_…"_

As Shirou opened his mouth to answer the voice spoke again this time in a friendly tone.

"Good morning Emiya-kun, good morning Rider, how are you doing? I am assuming it is around 7 am in Japan now, how was your sleep? Anyway I 'm sorry for calling you that early in the morning, but I was pretty sure that you would all be awake around that time. Old habits die hard eh?"

She was of course referring to the fact that Shirou and all of the people in that house were early birds.

The first one to answer was Rider. "Good morning Rin, we are all fine here. We didn't expect to hear from you for at least three more months. Since last month when you left for your business trip, you said that where you were going, communications would be impossible. I now understand why Sakura was so happy earlier, not only you called us, but you are coming back so soon." Having finished her greeting; with ehr eyes she gestured Shirou to talk.

Though he responded in time, raising no suspicions, his voice sounded completeley different from before; all the energy and confidence he had a few minutes ago were long gone.  
"Good morning Tohsaka….we're all good here. How are you holding up?" he said trying to sound as normal as possible

Tohsaka Rin, Sakura's elder sister, she was an incredibly skilled and talented magus working for the mages association in London. She was recently appointed as a teacher in London's magis' clock tower, one of the youngest magi to ever attain the rank of _Senior. _Even though her job was mainly to teach basic magecraft to apprentices and sometimes specialized advanced magecraft to normal students; in truth, she didn't really liked the whole teaching part and that was primarly the reason that whenever she had the chance she would take open field assignments which included a lot of travelling and uncertain time-schedule. That's why these exciting assignments came at a price, she had almost no vacations at all and many times communicating with her family and friends was impossible. A couple of years ago, she hadn't contacted them for over six months, making Sakura worry so much about her to the point she even booked tickets to go search for her in the place where her sister had gone.

In general, Tohsaka was seen as a model magus, she was very clever, helpful, had sharp wits, interest in learning new things and of course her appearance was stunning as well. However, that was the image theat the people from her job circle had for her. The truth about Tohsaka Rin was much grimmer than most people think. Shirou was one of the few people along with Sakura and Rider who knew Tohsaka's true colors and that was the reason he was so shocked to know that she was coming back tomorrow.

_"__Why tomorrow of all days?"_

Only the thought of her being around them, right after the day he would propose to Sakura, made him nervous. Her teasing would be insufferable. She would say a marriage joke in every occasion she had and that was the least she would probably do. He was certain that there was no chance to try to hide it from her, even if they tried to she would surely find out about it sooner or later. She's an expert at reading and assessing situations and Sakura, unlike the other two, isn't really good at keeping something like this a secret, her behavior would surely betray her.

"I am fine both of you, thank you for asking." Tohsaka greeted them in a perky voice.  
"I am surprised Emiya-kun! I was expecting some sarcastic comments from you about my sudden return or at least some questions about why I'm coming back so soon."

Shirou knew she was provoking him to complain but he didn't give her the pleasure of doing so instead he asked her in a calm composed tone.  
"Well, considering the fact that you are not a person to skip work. I am assuming that there is something going on here more important than the assignment, so they are sending you here instead." Shirou replied.

"Hmm...nice guess what you said is mostly true" She said in a more serious voice than before; there was a slight pause.  
"I was asked to return from the assignment, because a strange disturbance in the magical energy in Fuyuki city was detected. Of course I objected at first and told them to send someone else and that I was needed there. Nevertheless, they said that the rest of team were more than enough to handle the assignment and that all the other Tower's magi who could go, are too busy with their respective mission or work, plus they added that since it is my hometown I should be the one to go…" She concluded her response with a sigh.

"So..? What do you think this disturbance is? Another aftereffect of the Holy Grail War? Because if it just that we can go on our own and investigate it like we did in the past." Shirou asked her slightly worried.

It was widely known among the magi world that the Holy Grail war was surely going to leave some aftereffects in the region it occured, just like a big earthquake is followed usually by aftershocks. There have been some cases in the past where Shirou had to go along with Rider to deal with the aftereffects of the Holy Grail. Not something serious, just some afterimages of the Servants who fought in the war, they were sustained due to the increased amount of magical energy scattered throughout the city. Tohsaka had come to help the first time only, the other times the mages association in London contacted Shirou directly and asked him to deal with the problem, because Tohsaka was busy on a very important assignment; of course he was rewarded for his efforts. Apparently, this time Tohsaka's assignment wasn't so important and probably the Association had no extra money to spare to outsiders; times were difficult.

"Probably something like that... I'll know for sure when I see what is going on myself, but I'm sure there is nothing to worry yourselves about." She said in a reassuring tone.

A few moments of silence followed. Sakura was the one to break it.  
"Anyway whatever the reason, it is really good to see you again so soon nee-san, we will be awaiting for you tomorrow, I'll also make sure to cook your favorite dishes as well." She said cheerfully.

"Thanks Sakura, even though it has only been one month I can't describe just how much I missed your cooking."

What Tohsaka said, she meant it wholeheartedly, Sakura's cooking was out of this world. She started cooking several years ago. When she first started, she didn't even know how to boil an egg properly, but Shirou was the one to show her the ropes and now she had become even better than him. After Sakura graduated from high school, she had starteed working as a cook in a traditional restaurant, with her earnings she entered a cooking school and officially became a chef. As of now, she is working for a high class four-star restaurant in new Fuyuki, that position alone is proof enough for her cooking skills. Cooking was her passion and she loved it.

Well it is time to hang up now, we'll talk more when I arrive. Bye."Tohsaka concluded her call.

"Bye! Have a nice trip" All of them said in unison. Then the dialing sound echoed in the room.

After that, they all had their breakfast, which had grown cold after all that time, but it was still delicious as ever. Shirou then put on his brown MacGyver's style jacket which was a present from Sakura for his birthday and left for his job. Sakura was in the kitchen doing the dishes, she was free today as the restaurant she was working to was undergoing renovations.

Shirou kissed Sakura in the cheek goodbye "Tonight at 7, ok?" he said.

She nodded in agreement smiling "Come to pick me up from nee-san's house I will go there to clean it up since she's coming back tomorrow." And she sent him off.

"I'm leaving." He shouted as he was walking through the doorstep.

"Be safe." He received a simultaneous response from both Sakura and Rider.

Halfway to the school he realized he had forgotten his cellphone in his hurry due to the morning call from Tohsaka.  
_"Well no time to turn back now, _Sakura or Rider can call at school and ask for me if something happens." And with that in mind he continued his way to the school.


	4. A happy life (part 3)

Upon his arrival at school, Shirou saw a familiar figure talking with some people in front of the gate; Shirou assumed they were techinicians of some sort due to the uniforms they were wearing. The person he saw was none other than the director of the school herself. Fujimura Taiga, also known as Tiger among the students, even though no one who valued his life would dare call her like that in front of her, that nickname had followed her from her teacher days. Taiga was an average sized woman in her mid-thirties. She had short light brown hair and chestnut eyes which some people swear that they turn black like some sort of demon when she gets angry. Taiga was an honest, hardworking teacher who really cared for all of her students equally and even though her fiery temper could make someone misunderstand her sometimes, her intentions were always pure. You could describe her as a strict, but loving mother who made sure her children are raised properly.

Shirou and Taiga are going way back when he was still a little brat. Because his foster father Kiritsugu travelled a lot and he was often absent from home for long periods of time, Taiga was the one who took care of him during those times and they grew closer to each other as years passed. During his high school days, Taiga was his teacher at school; despite their relationship Taiga never treated Shirou differently than any other student, in fact you could say she was stricter with him because of it. If it was to describe their relationship, it would be that of a brother and an elder caring sister. As he approached the school gate Shirou greeted the technicians and then turned his gaze on Taiga.

"Good morning Fuji-nee. What's with the technicians? Has something broken?" He asked her, curious.

Taiga as she heard his voice turned to face him. Shirou noticed she was frustrated.  
"Oh…Good morning Shirou, yeah the school phone was dead when I arrived in the morning, so I called the phone company from my cellphone to investigate the issue."

"Seriously now?! And I forgot my cellphone today!"

"Sorry Shirou, you can use mine if you want to make a call."

"Thanks Fuji-nee, I'll tell you if I need it"

"Anyway, it is time for class, let's leave the people to do their job, I'll make sure they have everything they need to finish their work ASAP." Upon hearing her words Shirou headed to the gym after waving her goodbye.

Time passed quickly, it was already 3pm, the afternoon classes have ended and the club activities had started, Shirou was responsible for the fencing and the archery club. Because of the small number of members each club had, their activities were taking place in the same building. Shirou was an expert with swords but he was proficient with bows as well, so when he heard that one of these clubs had to be disbanded due to lack of teachers, he immediately suggested to merge them in one club and that he will be the teacher responsible for both of them and his suggestion had been accepted.

There were a total of seven students who were members of those clubs, four for the fencing and three for the archery club. In his high school days the archery club was way more popular than it is now, Taiga was the supervising teacher of it and the club had many talented members like his old friend Mitsuzuri, who was captain of the archery club back then and now she was going to represent Japan at the Olympics in 2016, Sakura was a member as well, a pretty talented one too. Shirou was part of the archery club too for some time but then he quit because he wanted to work part time after the school.

Meanwhile, the communications haven't been restored at the end of the day and Shirou was growing impatient as he wanted to know what had happened with Rider and his costume, but he couldn't leave just yet, he had a responsibility towards his club members. Finally, after three long hours which seemed as six to Shirou, he headed back home. He was going to take a quick bath, put on his new suit, which Rider would have hopefully managed to bing and then go pick up Sakura for the big night. It was a little after six when Shirou arrived at home; the whole place was empty as he expected, Sakura was at her Tohsaka's house and Rider didn't have a reason to stick around when no one's there.

"Mmmm...I like this silence, I can prepare myself without distractions now." He mumbled out as he stepped inside the house.

Even though he said that he had plenty of time to prepare, Shirou wasn't a person who took forever to bathe and get dressed; the maximum time limit for these two activities was fifteen to twenty minutes top. He was a man after all and like most men such kind of preparations don't take too much. But Shirou like most men, held a dark secret which wouldn't let anyone else know, not even Sakura or else he would be destroyed socially.

After finishing his bath he emerged out of the tub, opened the bathroom door without putting a towel to cover his body and started running across the corridor. Though most people would call it a fetish, he preferred to call it a stress relief activity. He considered it fun, running around the house in his birth outfit. Usually, there is always someone around the house, Sakura, Rider or Fuji-nee so he couldn't possibly do these kind of things while others were around. It is not that he only ran around like that, but often he would start singing and dancing like a maniac. He would die of embarrassment if someone saw him doing the helicopter; he can't even imagine what would happen if that someone happened to be Tohsaka; she would blackmail him for the rest of his life.

" _Cause I'm TNT ….. I'm dynamite…..TNT and I…_Hmm a missed call from Rider. Wonder what she wanted to tell me…  
Eeek! It is 18:45 already, I must make haste." He shouted panicked as he saw the time on the cellphone.

Shirou then immediately stopped his crazy dance, ran to his bedroom to put on some underwear and the suit. Thankfully it was there when he opened the wardrobe. He thanked Rider in his mind.  
_"I should at least treat her to her favorite food sometime as a token of my appreciation."_

The funny thing is that as Rider is originally a Servant, the only thing she needs is the magical energy Sakura provides her with. But, since she decided to live as normally as possible she decided to start eating and sleeping like normal people. She even got a job and took some trips to other countries with the money she made. She visited many countries mostly European ones: Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Egypt, China, Brazil, USA but according to her, the one she enjoyed her visit the most was her homeland Greece; she visited the places where she used to live four thousand years ago, even though they had changed completelyof since then, some of them made her remember her darkest memories. She didn't mind though, she believed that it was a necessary step if she ever wanted to overcome her grudge for the peoplee, responsible for her fate who were nonoe other than Athena and Poseidon.

Despite everyone calling her Rider which represent her servant class, her true name is Medusa, the youngest of the gorgons' sisters. There were many myths about herorigins, but the truth was that Medusa and her sisters were not actually humans, but mythical creatures called Gorgons. Gorgons were monsters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. But unlike the rest of the Gorgons Medusa and her two sisters were born with a human form while retaining their original abilities. They all grew up to become beautiful women with Medusa being the most dashing of them all; the sisters were spending their lives in a small island in the Aegean sea, tending to a temple of the goddess Athena there and helping the passing sailors' boats.

Unfortunately, their beauty was their downfall. One day the sea god Poseidon deceived Medusa pretending to be a shipwrecked sailor asking for shelter. Medusa young and naive as she was fell right in his trap and offered him a room. Unfortunately, the same night oseidon revealed his true nature and proceeded to rape Medusa inside Athena's temple. Athena was furious with his actions of course, but because she didn't want to come into arms with a more powerful god than her, she took out her anger at Medusa, the rape victim. She put a curse on her which transformed her, making look like into the rest of the Gorgons. Since then her life slowly fell into ruins, she isolated herself not wanting to be seen like that from her sisters and when after years her sisters tried to help her she ate them alive, that's when she became a true monster. She was finally killed by Perseus the hero from Greek mythology by having her head chopped off.

_"I should totally get her to that new Greek restaurant that opened up outside town, I heard from some of the kids at school that they make really good…..what was its name again…?ah yeah pitogyro, she would love it"_  
"Yeah everything is great, I'll make sure that Sakura has the best time of her life tonight, she deserves it after all." He said to himself, as he was checking out himself one last time at the mirror.

He double checked his pockets to make sure he had everything he needed. Wallet, tissues, cell phone and most importantly the ring, they were all there, so without any further delay he locked the house and headed for Tohsaka's mansion while humming a cheerful tone.

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**Thus ends the introduction for the Fate universe.**

**#RiderLovesGreekFood, #ShirouDarkSecret.**

**At first I was planning to release this chapter without any of the above, thankfully I didn't. I don't know if you liked them, but I certainly enjoyed writing them down.  
****Next chapter will be about Supernatural. Until then be well ! :)**


	5. Brotherly tragedy

**1 week before Shirou's engagement night, USA**

Inside an abandoned construction site at the outskirts of a rural town screams of pain and agony could be heard along with screams of despair. Those screams could make the heart of even the bravest of people skip a beat or two. They belonged at two people, two men, brothers, one 35 and the other 31 years old. They had gone to fight a very important battle there and even though their mission was successful at the end, it came at a big cost. Now the older brother was lying on the ground, inside a pool of his own blood, his clothes were soaked in it. The cause of his miserable state was a hole on his belly made from an angel sword, a short silver blade which was thrust deep inside his stomach and had pierced most of his internal organs. A stream of blood was gushing from the wound. The screams of pain belonged to him, as each second that passed, brought him closer to his inevitable end.

His younger brother was standing beside him, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. A void effort because even if he managed to stop it, his brother would surely die from blood loss; nevertheless, that wasn't enough to stop him. The lost blood was so much that with each movement of his body you could hear splashing sounds. His hands were dyed in a red and his clothes had blood spills on them, yet he was still trying to wrap up the wound with a piece of his shirt, which he had ripped in half. He was yelling at his brother in hope that his voice will keep him conscious, but it was in vain.

"Dean…Dean!, Hey, listen to me, keep listening to my voice, don't shut your eyes….Damn it!….Come on! …stop bleeding already….."

"S-S-Sammy… I'm sorry I shouldn't have… it's too late now...".The older brother said in a barely audible voice.

"Stop! Don't say those things, you'll be okay I swear it, I'll get you out of here alive." His eyes were getting wet, his voice was trembling, his brother was dying in front of him and he was powerless to do anything.

Dean smiled bitterly as he mustered all his remaining strength and said.  
"Please….promise me…..don't look for me after I'm gone. Enough is…..enough. I can't stand this life anymore…..So please do me a hunter's funeral and go live the life you deserve."  
His voice was even weaker than before, grunts of agony could be heard between his words. His usually sparking green eyes were hollow. He couldn't move a muscle of his body without writhing in pain, yet after he finished his sentence, he moved his right hand, placed it on his kneeling brother's shoulder and said.  
"Good bye….. Little bro." And he closed his eyes, for good this time.

"Noooo!" Sam's yelled with all his might.

His voice tore apart the silence of the night. He smashed his hand on the ground. And he started crying silently. He hadn't moved at all for a while, his brother's lifeless arm was still hanging in the air and his own hand was bleeding from the force of the hit on the concrete floor, but the pain he felt at his hand was nothing compared to the pain of losing his brother. After some minutes passed, he wept the tears from his eyes, grabbed his brother's body, carried him by the shoulder back to their car and drove to their safe house. He wasn't going to comply with his brother's dying wish.

After he returned to the safe house, with his brother's body, he tried contacting Castiel, their angel friend to come down for help, but he didn't know the gates of Heaven were still closed due to the spell Metatron cast _(look tips if you don't who he is)_ and any communication with the Earth was impossible for Castiel. When his efforts to reach the angel failed, he put all his hopes to the opposite side, demons. He tried summoning the demon king himself whom the Winchester brothers were forced to cooperate with in the past in order to beat a common enemy. He had no desire to owe any favors to Crowley, but he couldn't accept that his brother was lost so unfairly, asking that demon for help was all that he had left. And so, going against his brother's dying wish, which was to let him die in peace and do not attempt to bring him back, he summoned the demon king. Unfortunately for him even the demon king could not bring his brother back, if he had died from a normal weapon he could do it, but the angelic blade powers prevented him from doing so. With that the demon king departed and left the younger brother in his misery.

Sam then having all his hopes crushed to bits, prepared everything for his brother funeral. He stacked dried wood, wetted them with gasoline placed gently his brother's body along with his favorite silver gun and his AC/DC themed machete, which Dean had created himself when he was sixteen and started listening to their music, he even put in his chest pocket the original keys of their car, Sam kept the copies for himself. Then he lit them up and watched the fire until it burnt out. That was how a hunter should go to the afterlife, burnt along with all his close personal objects, no attachments to this world at all. That was what Dean would have wanted and that's what Sam did.

* * *

A week has passed, it was around 5 pm, Saturday afternoon. Sam had emptied the tenth bottle of scotch last night, he was still devastated by his brother's death and he was trying to calm his nerves with drinking, but with limited success. Sam hadn't slept almost at all these past days; he woke up from yet another restless sleep, he was more exhausted than he had imagined and his head hurt like crazy from all the drinking. But right now drinking was all he had to make his pain go away. He scratched his eyes and tried to stand up. When he was half standing, he was overwhelmed by a terrible dizziness. He ran to the bathroom, stood above the toilet and vomited last night's drinks. He was vomiting for over a two minutes, after he was finished he washed his mouth and headed to the kitchen to make himself something to eat, probably something greasy in order to make the headache go away. He was unlucky though the fridge was empty, the only thing inside were beers and soft drinks. At first he thought to drink them but then a sharp pain run through his head, it was like his body was telling him.

_"__No more alcohol, give me some food."_

So, he decided to drive to town and have his food there, but first he had to bathe. He hadn't bathed for a week now. He was stinking like a pig, his long brown hair were greasy and his clothes had still dried blood and sweat stains on them. He undressed, took a look at himself at the mirror, his normally handsome self was nowhere to be found, instead the only one you could see was a miserable, filthy looking, beat up man. He shook his head frustrated with his appearance and imagined that Dean wouldn't want him to continue living that miserable life and that he would want him to move on, one step at time. So he took that first step and walked into the shower, after that he shaved, got dressed, cleaned the filthy safe house and then drove to town in order to have that meal he so much needed.

It was about a fifteen to twenty minutes' drive from their safe house to town's center where the restaurant he wanted to go was located. About an hour and a half had passed since he woke up and people could be seen at the street heading home from their jobs. Finally, he arrived at the restaurant, surprisingly it was pretty much empty, only him, a drowsy employee and two other people like who were having their food, the only sound you could hear was the sounds from the forks and knifes people used, there was also a TV broadcasting the news but it was put on mute. Sam approached the desk and placed his order on the drowsy employee.

"Mm... Hello, I would like an omelet with bacon and sausages and a glass of orange juice." He didn't want coffee to wake him up. Right now what he needed was a hearty meal so his body wouldn't collapse.

"Zzzz…hmm….What..? Hello sir! How may I help you?" Asked he employee, who had managed to sleep on his feet. Sam sighed, but didn't complain and he repeated his order.

"Right away sir please sit down and I'll bring them to you as soon as they are ready." The employee's voice now was louder than before noticed Sam.

_"__He probably tries to keep himself awake by shouting….poor guy"_ He thought. Though he, himself wasn't any better. In fact he was even worse, but he decided to deal with it starting today.

A few minutes passed without anything happening, the employee later brought him his food and he started eating. When he put the first mouthful in his mouth, he felt tingles all over his body.  
_"So delicious!" _He thought as he gulped down another mouthful.

These past seven days of continuous drinking made him forget the taste of real food. And even though, he had eaten much more delicious omelets, right now he could have sworn this was the best he had in his whole life. He was so absorbed with his food, he didn't pay any attention to his surroundings. Then another customer from the back of the shop spoke.

"Excuse me, could you please turn on the volume at this one, I'd like to hear it." At his words the employee boringly nodded his head in agreement.

_"__No speaking at all now… hmm? His drowsiness got the better of him already."_ Thought Sam.

Then the employee grabbed the remote and turned on the voice. It was the foreign news that they always show around that time every afternoon, noticed Sam. The reporter was talking about something strange that happened yesterday in Japan, in a city that he didn't catch its name. He wasn't paying attention, but from what he heard a wild animal, probably a wolf or a rabid dog, had managed to break into a house and almost chewed to death the person who was inside, her heart was badly damaged.

_"__Werewolf" _He instantly thought_. _That was probably a case for a hunter, but in truth he couldn't care less about a random monster in another country.  
_"Let the Japanese hunters deal with it."_ He thought and continued with his food.

TV speaking.  
"As if its first attack wasn't enough, the wild animal attacked again in the same night ten hours after the first attack. This time it broke into another house in another neighborhood, luckily none of the people who were inside the house were hurt. According to a witness who was walking to his work at the time, he stated that he heard growling sounds, barks and thing smashing from inside the house then a big red flash appeared from the courtyard and a gunshot was heard. After a while he saw a figure jump over the wall and disappear. Here's the video, which the witness recorded with his cell phone."

_Playing video footage._

At that moment Sam lifted his head and caught a glimpse of the footage. He then froze in place with what he just saw, his hand instinctively dropped the fork he was holding and he nearly drowned with his food. He got up quickly, paid the bill and left the restaurant.

* * *

**I might have messed up the time between USA and Japan, but it doesn't really matter, if you understood the time frame during which everything happened, I just thought I should mention though.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter ! :)**


	6. No escape from your tragic fate

**Chapter 5**

Shirou was hurryingly walking up the hill where Tohsaka's mansion was located. He was nearly there; her house could not be seen from the uphill he was currently treading but from the top of the hill the mansion was a straight walk to the left. He didn't take the car because both of them would probably drink tonight and neither he nor Sakura didn't want to drive when they have drunk. They were both careful drivers, but still, better safe than sorry. Also the restaurant where they were going wasn't far from Tohsaka's home, there wasn't a need for a car in the first place, they could walk there. A romantic walk was perfect to set up the mood for tonight's event.

The row of houses across the uphill have ended, and he could at last see the mansion's roof from afar. He turned left and he saw something unexpected there. A crowd of people were gathered outside of Tohsaka's mansion. The police and an ambulance had also arrived at the scene. Shirou heard the siren of the ambulance and saw the nurses from afar trying to get past the perimeter the crowd had formed unconsciously in their effort to see what happened.

"What the hell happened there? Why are there so many people? Why were the police and an ambulance there too? Is Sakura inside the crowd as well? I hope she is ok." These were Shirou's thoughts as he approached the scene to take a closer look.

He stood at the top of his feet, but he couldn't see above the crowd. He then addressed a person next to him. "Excuse me, do you know what happened here?" he said in a curious voice.

"Apparently a woman was attacked by a wild animal of some sort, the police said that it was probably a wolf or a really big rabid dog." Said the man.

"A wolf? Really? How is it possible that a wolf could be found here?" Shirou gasped surprised

"I know right, personally I think it was a planned murder that was performed like this in order to look like an animal attack." Said the man confident at his deductive skills.

Shirou ignored him and started looking for Sakura in the crowd. "_He said a woman was attacked! It couldn't possibly be Sakura. It just happened that this poor woman was attacked outside Tohsaka's house and that's why the crowd gathered here. Sakura is probably with the police answering their questions about the attack. If she had seen or heard anything probably. Or, she was in the crowd as well and was searching for him too. Yeah that's probably it."_ Shirou speculated, trying to reassure himself.

After all Sakura wasn't the kind of person who could be hurt by something like this. Ultimately she was a magus even if she didn't practice magic, she knew how to use it to protect herself from something like this. She may not be the great magus her sister is but the ridiculous amount of magical energy she houses, allows her to use powerful spells that require a lot of magical energy and are well above her level. An attack from a wild animal was nothing to worry, she could easily defend herself without even hurting the animal.

His search for Sakura kept going when he heard a familiar voice. "Shirou, Shirou, over here!"

He recognized this voice immediately; it was Rider, he then turned his face to the place where he heard the voice. He spotted her in an instant. Her magnificent figure stood out too much after all. She was waving her hand towards him; he approached her.

"Shirou….. Finally you are here, I called you at school, but the line was dead and you weren't answering neither at your cell phone nor at the house's phone."

He immediately moved his lips to explain why but she didn't let him and continued.  
"Shirou it is terrible!" Rider's voice was clearly worried about something, so he asked her.

"Rider, please calm down, I was in the bath and I missed your calls and the school lines were broken, please calm down and tell me what happened? Also have you seen Sakura? I've been looking for her since I arrived here." He said in calm tone, but in fact Rider's words brought bad thoughts in his head, which he couldn't drive away. He was really anxious as well, but he tried to look composed and calm in order to make Rider talk.

"Shirou, it is S-S-Sakura….." She answered in a trembling voice. And made a pause.

Shirou upon hearing Sakura's name he lost his cool and yelled at her demanding explanations "W-what?Wha do you mean Rider?What happened to her? Tell me!"

The people nearby turned their heads towards them, drawn by Shirou's loud voice. Rider then made his worst fear come true by saying. "It is her presence. I can barely sense her in the house. Normally our connection allows us to sense each over due to the magical energy she gives me. Especially when I'm this close to her location the sensation becomes stronger for me, since I'm a servant. Right now I should be feeling her presence strongly, but all I can sense is faint stream of her magical energy coming from inside the house. Our bond becomes weaker if she is asleep or unconscious, but never to that point. So the only thing left is if she is…"

But she never finished her sentence, Shirou had already left and was forcing his way through the crowd, into the mansion. She heard from where she stood his shouts towards the policemen in his effort to let him in. They had obviously blocked the entrance to the mansion because it was considered a crime scene.

"Let me in you jerks! I'm her her boyfriend; I was going to propose t her tonight.  
See here's the ring! Now let me pass!"  
His words and the tone of his voice made the crowd behind him look at him with pitiful eyes. He was looking pretty miserable to them, tonight it was supposed to be their big night and this tragedy happened. Those were the crowd's thoughts, but he couldn't possibly be concerned about such things right now.

"Let me pass,Let me pass,Let me pass…" He shouted with all his might until he was out of breath.

A policeman tried to calm him down. "Sir please, we understand how you are feeling but unfortunately we can't let you go inside, no matter who you are. The nurses need quiet in order to tend to the victim, she is seriously wounded. In fact they were surprised to find her alive when they came. Her wounds would have killed any person, I know. They are doing their best to stabilize her before moving her to the hospital, you can be with her inside the ambulance that would drive you to the hospital, one person is allowed to accompany the patient inside the ambulance. They should be ready soon, wait here and please don't force us to remove you from the perimeter."

The policeman's words calmed down Shirou a bit.  
_"He said she was alive, hurt, but alive. Thank God. Sakura has suffered much worse tortures in the past, a bite or two from an animal would surely be nothing for her. I should wait here; it will be no good if I start shouting again."_ He crossed his hands and waited for the nurses to come out with Sakura, while tapping impatiently his leg on the pavement.

After a while Shirou heard noises of wheels from inside the house and the voices of the nurses shouting. "MMake way please,make way."

Two nurses pushing a strecher came out of the house. He lifted his head in an effort to see Sakura. When he did, the view was nothing like he had expected. He was expecting to see Sakura with some bandages on her arms or legs or her body and she would be sleeping on the stretcher or probably be unconscious. What he saw made him feel sick, his face become pale and his legs crumbled in despair; they couldn't support his weight anymore, not after this. On the stretcher there was definitely Sakura; he recognized her from her long purple hair which had blood stains on them, but if it wasn't for the hair he couldn't possibly even imagine it was Sakura, under all these bandages. Her whole body was covered with bandages, her legs, her arms, her belly, her chest even her face except her eyes and nose. The bandages were painted red by her blood. She was literally a mummy. The thought of how she looked under all those bandages would have probably made Shirou faint, not only him. Tohsaka too, no matter how tough she pretends to be, she couldn't possibly be unaffected by the condition of her sister. Even Rider she would surely cry if she saw her master like this.

The nurses put Sakura in the ambulance. Shirou asked them to come along and they allowed him after he told who he is. Before leaving Shirou told Rider, whose eyes were wet.

"Rider I want you to go at our house, grab anything that Sakura may need and bring them to the hospital."  
His initial shock of seeing Sakura's like this hadn't passed yet; he was trying to speak normally, but his face and his tone betrayed his emotions. His throat was sore from all that yelling and he was sweaty.

"Ok… I'll be there as soon as possible". She responded quietly. She was feeling guilty because her master was attacked and she was unable to do anything. It was written all over her face. Shirou noticed it as he was stepping in the ambulance and said to her.

"Do not blame yourself for this Rider, Sakura would never blame you for something like this, neither do I."  
His effort to cheer her up was in vain. She didn't even hear him, she was lost in her thoughts. He fell silent, closed the ambulance's back door and then the ambulance departed for the hospital, leaving behind the devastated Rider.

**#ByeByeSakura, she will be gone for a long time, honestly I don't even know what will happen to her. Can anyone guess who or what attacked Sakura? (****^-^)  
****Hope you liked the chapter.**


	7. Heaven and Hell

**Chapter 6**

**Human day: Friday, Human time: unknown**

The whole place was in turmoil, if someone saw what was going on he would probably ask why so many people in business suits are running around in a place that looked like a bomb has exploded. The cause wasn't so easy to explain, as that place was Heaven or maybe what was left of it and those people in business suits were actually angels. They weren't anywhere near the angels most people imagine, white robes, angelic halos and white feather wings. They were all looking like normal people, the reason was because they were actually normal people who had their bodies possessed by angels.  
The process was quite simple, they found people, usually religious ones, and with either the easy or the hard way, they make them say the "YES". In order for an angel to possess a human body the host must agree to it. Most of the angels were experts at convincing their hosts to offer their bodies but sometimes things weren't working as planned and they resorted to threats and violence, their basic belief was "Purpose justify the means".

A female angel was crossing the place in a hurry, she had long wavy dark brown hair and brown eyes, she was wearing a white business suit and a golden cross, unlike most angels who were wearing black ones and didn't wear any accessories. Her name was Hannah, without surname, no angel had anyway. Her job was similar to that of a secretary. Her "boss", even though he didn't want to be called like that, was named Castiel or Cass for friends, he was also an angel.  
Nevertheless, "also an angel" was a wrong expression to describe him, he wasn't cut out from the same cloth like all the other angels, he had a mind of his own, he learnt the meaning of free will and was living by it, trying to teach it to other angels too. His efforts though had limited success.

Teaching an angel to take initiative and think for himself was as hard as trying to teach a monkey how to type, maybe even harder. As there is a theory that says that if you give a monkey a text to type and it starts pressing random buttons it will probably take over a thousand years but it will ultimately manage to type the correct text. Comparing what abilities a monkey has and what an angel has, it is safe to assume that teaching an angel what free will is, is harder.

"Castiel these are the reports, for this week." Hannah said as she was handing him a huge pile of papers, which Castiel was obliged to look through each one of them, at least once according to her.

"She is a good person, but I think she is a workaholic" He thought and then thanked her with a smile "Thanks Hannah, you are really a big help."

"I'm just doing my job, which is to help you in any way, I can in order to complete your goal" replied Hana happy as her efforts were being recognized.

Hannah was trying really hard to understand the meaning of free will mainly due to her admiration towards Castiel and Castiel could admit she was giving her best efforts. Still there were many awkward moments where she would behave strangely and it was up to Castiel to correct her.  
"Even that is a progress compared to others." That was what he kept saying to himself.

Castiel grabbed the reports from Hannah and then headed to his office to read them. On the way he took a look at himself at broken mirror. He was looking terrible, his face had dirt all over, his black eyes had bags below them due to lack of sleep, his black hair were messed up, he tried to comb them with his hand and failed miserably and then he gave up. Even his favorite brown trench coat was in tatters, it was covered in dirt and had holes and tears all over it.

"No time to care for appearances. There is much to be done. I wondered what happened to those two down there. With the communications broken and the door to heaven still shut I can't see them from here nor go visit them to see if they need my help." Castiel was worried about the Winchester brothers but he couldn't help it and he focused on the matters at hand instead, which was rebuilding Heaven and opening its gates once again..

He sat at his desk and started reading the reports Hannah gave him. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a strange energy disturbance in Japan, its center was a city called Fuyuki city.

"Well on the first occasion, I'll make sure to go down there to investigate" Of course the true reason behind this willingness was his desire to see how the brothers were doing.  
"I wonder what's taking the others so long to restore the gates? With all of Metatron's notes and spells, they should have been able to open them up by now?...I wonder how Dean and Sam are doing? I hope they weren't hurt while they were playing the decoy. They managed to buy a lot of time for me to set up my trap for Metatron and capture him and for that I'm thankful to them, but thanks to Metatron who before he surrendered sealed the gates again with a spell he quick casted, I can neither visit them nor communicate with them through telepathy…..maybe when I'm done with these reports I'll go help the others at the gates to speed things up." Castiel was being impatient and he was bored with all this paperwork during this week.  
"Why do we even need to keep archives for every FUCKING brick we are using in the constructions?" Those were his exact same words towards Hannah when she announced him what was written in that two meter pile of papers in his office four days ago.  
She was really surprised to hear that and in a curious voice she asked him.  
"Because we always done so, also don't humans do that as well?"

Castiel remembered this conversation and he chuckled as he said. "Now I'm starting to understand how Dean and Sam felt when I was blurting out nonsense like that."  
He put that last report, about Japan in a different drawer than the others and he continued with the rest as fast as he could.

**Meanwhile** at the exact opposite of Heaven. A short man wearing a stylish suit sat in a chair covered with red silk next to a little table with a bottle of Scottish scotch on it. The fire inside the fireplace which stood in front of him was burning bright red. The sound of its sparkles and his occasional laughter broke the silence of the room every now and then. One could say that he was crazy maniac or just an old man which had gone senile and had sudden outbursts of laughter.

He was neither, the saying: "Don't' judge a book by its cover" was a perfect fit for that man. That short old man with the thin black hair was none other than Crowley, the king of Hell himself who was celebrating his latest victory.

He smiled maliciously and said "Everything went according to plan that damn rebellious Hell knight is finally dead and that annoying wannabe angel-God Metatron is at last locked down in the deepest dungeons of Heaven."  
"Well not everything went according to plan that last one part was unexpected, I didn't really want for something like this to happen in the first place. But according to another old saying "the river goes only on way there is not turning back." Also I could never leave an opportunity like this slip from my hands. I should go buy a lottery ticket, who knows? With the streak of luck I'm having these days, I would probably win first prize.

The door behind him then knocked. "Come in." He replied.  
The door opened and a man with dark blond hair and bright green eyes came in, he was wearing a dark green jacket and a pair of blue jeans. His clothes had faint blood stains on them. As he walked towards him, Crowley said.  
"I think I have already told you to change those damn clothes. You are my first lieutenant now, you have to be well dressed all the time, like me, I think I have a really fashionable Giorgio Armani suit in my wardrobe. You'll have to fix it in order to fit your size but that's no problem for a demon like you isn't it?" Crowley said mockingly.

The man then stood up next to him and replied in a serious and emotionless tone. "I had more serious business to attend to than to change a stupid set of clothes. Take a look at these photos and documents. I think you will find them pretty interesting."

"Work, work, work all the time work. You were like that when you were human and I had said you so as well once. Relax a little, enjoy your new self and your new powers." The demon king said in a sarcastic tone. The man grunted angrily for a second but Crowley ignored it.

"Thanks but I'll pass." said the man as serious and emotionless as before. And he handed the papers he was holding to him.

The King grabbed them and he started studying them frantically, the pupils of his black eyes were moving from left to right at an incredible speed. His reading ability was impressive, not too many humans could read that fast and completely understand and memorize the content of what they read. Actually the word "human" was wrong for this one. He may look like a human but in fact what you see is just his host's body or meatsuit, as demons like to call the humans they possess. Unlike angels who had to ask for their host's permission, demons could possess anyone without doing so, stronger demons like him could also possess angels as well, angels too, on the condition that the angel had to be weakened in order to possess him

After he had gone through all the papers, he put them aside on the little table. He fell silent for a few moments and then he burst out in laughter. "AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA…This is too good to be true…..I can't believe it….HAHAHAHAHA….now I should surely go buy a lottery ticket.  
A smile of satisfaction had formed on the lips of the man, who was standing next to him emotionlessly up until now and he asked him. "So what now?"

Still trying to hold back his laughter Crowley said. "Well my dear boy I hope you have practiced your japanese, because where we are going, you are going to need it. Would you like a glass of scottish scotch to commemorate this event?" he said happily as he was filling a glass for himself.

"With pleasure." The man said.

Then they shared a glass of scotch, as they clang their they simultaneously said.  
"To the glory of the new Hell." And they finished their drinks in one gulp.

**So Castiel and Crowley join the fray as well. Tell me if you like how things are progressing in the story. Next chapter will be tomorrow or the day after, depends on how much the editing may take. I love writing this stuff, but editing them over and over is really tiring (-, - )…zzzZZZ.**


	8. The diagnosis

**Chapter 7**

_**Attention**__  
This chapter takes place before the Chapter 4._

_**The timeline so far is**__: Shirou goes at school(Japan,Friday morning), Castiel and Crowley presentation(Let's assume it happens around that time also), Sakura is attacked around 18:00-18:30(japan time), Shirou goes to Sakura around 19:00, hospital scene (now), Saturday afternoon around 18 :30 (USA time is Japan time +12 or +13 or +14 depending on the place you are,(east, middle, west USA) Sam notices something on TV and leaves in a hurry(Chapter 4)_

** Friday 19:30pm, Fuyuki city**

The ambulance has arrived at the hospital. The nurses came out from the front seats, opened the back door of the car and placed the stretcher on the ground. Shirou climbed down from the back seat and followed them.

"Hang in there Sakura, you'll be okay…..I promise you." He said her gently, while they were heading inside.

They went inside the hospital, where a group of medics waited them there.

"Thank goodness, they are here." Shirou thought relieved.

"How is the patient's condition?" Asked the doctors one of the nurses who brought Sakura.

"We managed to stabilize her for now, but she won't last long like that, she has lost a lot of blood, she needs a transfusion immediately and a surgery to stitch her wounds."Shirou's face turned white as paper.

"I see….excuse me sir are you a relative or friend of hers? Do you happen to know her blood type? ...hmm sir are you listening? "The doctor asked Shirou, who was still in trance.

Shirou came back to reality upon hearing the doctor's voice. "Hmm ...yeah I'm her boyfriend, her blood type is zero positive, I have zero negative type, so if you are in shortage of her blood type I can give her my blood."

"Thank you sir, that would be really helpful, we have some supplies of her blood type, but I am not sure it will suffice, not until I see her wounds and how she reacts to the treatment. We are going to take your girlfriend now to the operation room. You can have a seat outside in the hallway, we will inform you immediately when the operation is finished."  
Doctor's words didn't really calm Shirou down, but there was nothing he could do except for wait and pray for Sakura. The group of medics then took Sakura to the operation room and left him behind.

An hour has passed and the operation was still going on. Shirou was pacing nervously up and down the hallway, when he saw Rider coming to his position, she was holding the suitcase with the stuff Shirou asked her to bring.

"How bad is it? What did the doctors say? Is Sakura going to be okay?" Rider barraged him with those questions the moment she came near him.

"She is seriously hurt and the doctors said she will probably need a blood transfusion, luckily I am a compatible donor." As Shirou finished his sentence a tear trickled down her cheek, she quickly wiped it and said.

"It is all my fault. I should have sensed that something was wrong with Sakura's magical energy earlier, it is just that after I finished the task you gave me I went straight home and fell asleep, because I was feeling a little dizzy from all that driving. What woke me up was an incredible burst of magical energy from Sakura, it shocked my whole body like I was hit by lighting, then I understood that something was terribly wrong with Sakura. B-But when I arrived at Sakura's location it was already too late. She…she…was…." She choked her voice and tears filled her purple eyes.

Rider was feeling responsible for what happened to Sakura. As a servant her moral code was to always protect her Master even if it costs her life. Her failure to do so filled her with guilt and self-hatred.

Shirou was no stranger to the bond of a Servant and a Master, he was a Master in the past after all, he had Saber who had sworn to protect him with her life. So that experience obliged him to remain silent, he knew that any effort to possible make her feel better would be futile.

The truth is though, that he was feeling guiltier than Rider, even if he hadn't said so up until now.

"It isn't Rider's fault, it is all my fault, I knew that Rider' gets dizzy easily from driving and yet I asked her to drive to another town just so I could have this stupid costume for tonight. If I kept my mouth shut and wore something else instead, none of this would have happened….. Damn it!" He was cursing himself in his mind. He hated himself more than anything in the world right now.

Another hour passed. Shirou and Rider were sitting quietly in the hallway, each one lost in his own thoughts. The atmosphere was heavy. Then the operation room door opened, a doctor came out and said.

" We managed to stich most of her wounds and I can say she is safe for now, but I'm afraid it is not over yet."

Shirou and Rider looked at each other and then Shirou said first. " What do you mean doctor? Is her life still in danger? What else needs to be done?"

The doctor looked at them, took a deep breath and said. "Look, I'm going to be honest but I want both of you to stay calm, ok?" They both gulped and stared at the doctor intensely.

The doctor crossed his arms and explained the situation to them. "As I said most of her wounds are stitched, some of them were really deep, honestly I was surprised to see that most of her internal organs were still intact."  
That was no miracle though, Sakura's body must have used her magical energy instinctively in order to protect itself.  
"But there is a problem with her heart, whatever attacked her managed to bite through her chest and reached her heart. Her heart is now being supported by machines, but it is in a very bad shape, it won't last long. She needs a transplant immediately or else her heart will collapse. We are currently contacting every hospital or organ donation center in the country, in order to find her a compatible transplant."

The doctor finished his explanation and looked at them. Their reaction were predictable. Their eyes and mouths opened wide. Then Shirou smashed his hand at the wall, which made a low thump upon impact. And Rider covered her mouth with her hand, as her eyes started getting wet again.

"Sakura is going to die….?" That's what crossed both their minds.

Then the doctor tried to calm them down. He understood what they were thinking, after all he has seen many people's faces like this after he announced them similar news.

"Do not worry, I'm sure a transplant will be found soon, we will be asking foreign hospitals and organizations too, if nothing is found inside the country. But I'm sure that we won't have to go that far." His words were comforting, nevertheless neither of them could keep his cool.  
The doctor spoke again. "Also about that blood transfusion I told you earlier, I'm afraid we are going to need it, her body needs blood right now, the blood loss she suffered was severe. And our blood reserves are not nearly enough to cover her needs"

Shirou then nodded positively towards the doctor and said. "Ok let's do it"

"You will have to complete this form that confirms your condescension for the transfusion" The doctor said as he took out a paper form and gave it to Shirou.

"Whatever is needed" He replied in a serious voice.

"Thank you for your understanding, the infirmary is this way, please follow me" The doctor told him. They left together leaving Rider behind without saying her anything.

The whole procedure lasted about two hours. Shirou followed the doctor to the infirmary, where he signed the form and after some preparations, a nurse started draining his blood with a needle. The nurse began draining slowly, because she wanted to see how Shirou's body would react. After she saw he was standing firm, she increased the draining amount. Upon reaching the maximum allowed limit per donation, which was one pint of blood (about 500 ml), the nurse reached for the needle in Shirou's arm in order to take it out, but she stopped her with his other hand and said.

"I have heard that it is possible to give double that amount per donation, I'm a PE teacher, therefore my physical condition is good, I would have no problem giving more blood." He said confidently.

"Are you really sure sir? You may pass out from blood loss." She said doubtfully.

"I don't care about passing out, my girlfriend's life is in danger, worrying about such things is a lame excuse." His voice was firm and determined.

The nurse was ready to object but then noticed his determination and took her hand away from the needle.

She sighed and said. "Ok then please drink this, so your body won't dehydrate and we shall continue." She gave him a glass of fruit juice. He drank it and she continued with the procedure.

Before exiting the infirmary the nurse gave him another glass of fruit juice, she thanked him for the blood and told him what a great person he was, that Sakura is lucky to have him and that everything will be ok. Shirou nodded and left the infirmary.

He was exhausted, all this running around, all this stress about today's event and finally the blood which he had just given were taking a heavy toll on his body.  
He felt dizzy and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. He took deep slow breathes and rubbed his temples to make his headache go away, as he was walking slowly back to the place where Rider was, with unsteady steps.

When he arrived there he saw another person there. He immediately recognized her. That crimson coat she was wearing was a trademark for her. She was sitting beside Rider, she had her both arms and legs crossed and she seemed lost in her thoughts.

"Hmmm…She seems pretty calm. That's odd even for her, I would have thought that she would be a little more emotional. Maybe she arrived when I was in the infirmary and she had time to recompose herself after she heard the news from Rider. ….But seriously how could she remain that calm?"

But then after all she was Tohsaka a woman who always managed to surprise him, usually in a bad manner but she had her good moments as well.

"At least it is good one of us is calm."Shirou thought. He then heard her voice calling him.

"Hey Shirou, I would have said "_nice to see to you_" but after hearing what happened, well…" She stood up, shook her long black hair behind her back and waved her hand at him.

He sighed quietly "Sakura is in the hospital wounded and she is trying to joke with the situation, in order to cheer me up?" he thought annoyed at her behavior, yet he decided to play along.

"Yeah you are right, I wish I could say that too." He replied in a manner that betrayed his feelings though.

She noticed his annoyed tone and apologized. "I'm sorry if I upset you, I can understand that you had it really rough today, in fact I'm worried and upset too, but I figured that by panicking we can't solve anything, so I tried to cheer you up a little, I'm sure Sakura will be fine."

"Maybe she thinks so, because she hasn't seen Sakura like I saw her. She may not know how bad her condition actually is, I won't say anything now. Honestly I hope she doesn't have to see her sister in this condition."

He thought and then he apologized to her. "No I'm sorry, it is true my nerves are on the edge right now and I'm tired, I may have been a little rude. Anyway weren't you going to come back tomorrow? How come you are here today? Also how did you know where were we?" Shirou bombarded her with questions after saying his apology.

"Don't sweat it Shirou, I understand. Now then, for what you asked here's what happened. The plane arrived earlier than it was scheduled so I arrived tonight instead of tomorrow. I knew where to find you, because if you take a look at my home, it is crawling with the police. I just asked them what happened and they told me in which hospital they took Sakura." She explained him and stared at him with her dark blue eyes waiting for his reply.

He scratched his hair awkwardly and said "Ohh….I see, the answers were pretty obvious, I'm sorry, but I don't have a clear head right now."

"As I said, don't sweat it, I understand." Tohsaka comforted him.

The doctor from before then approached the group and said to Shirou. "I heard the news from the nurse, you gave double the amount of the blood we asked, we are really thankful. The blood you gave will really help your girlfriend. She is a lucky woman to have a man like you. I promise you, we won't let the blood, you gave go to waste, we will find a transplant and perform the surgery, you two will be together again soon." His efforts to calm him down have at last taken some effect as Shirou's face looked a little more peaceful after hearing that.

"Thank you doctor. If there is anything you need, this is my phone don't hesitate to call me no matter the hour" He said as he was writing down his phone in a piece of paper.

"Of course sir, we will inform you immediately if anything happens. Now what I want from you is to go home and rest. I'm sure you must be feeling really tired. Go home, eat something and sleep, you can come back tomorrow morning to see your girlfriend, she is in good hands and her condition should remain stable for now. So please take my advice and come back tomorrow." The doctor sounded absolute while saying that, he must have noticed that Shirou was a mess, he then said his goodbyes and departed.

Shirou opened his mouth to complain about doctor's advice, but Rider's voice cut him short. "Do as the doctor say Shirou, he is right, you are exhausted I can see it on your face. I will stay here to watch over Sakura, there is no need for me to sleep after all, I'm a servant. And there is no way I'm leaving Sakura's side, not after what happened to her because of my incompetence. I will stay here and make sure she is safe and sound. You can go back home with Rin and rest, she is tired as well from her trip. Come back tomorrow to see me."

The tone of her voice implied that she wasn't going to take "No" as an answer. Shirou understood that and after he made sure that she will call him if anything happens he left with Tohsaka for his home.

On their way out, Shirou asked Tohsaka " I just noticed, but where are your luggage? You left them in your home?"

Tohsaka answered him calmly. "You really can't think straight at all do you? Do you think the police would let me enter a crime scene and leave my stuff inside."

Shirou shook his head and sighed "Haha very funny Tohsaka….So where are your luggage?"

"They are coming with the plane tomorrow, they will be sending them here." She explained.

"Really I thought you never let anyone else touch your stuff, except for you." He asked surprised.

Tohsaka said smiling "I have everything, I need for my job with me, in the suitcase are other, more personal stuff like my everyday clothes, my underwear and my favorite d…"

Shirou interrupted her. "STOP… I prefer not to know any more about your OTHER stuff."

She laughed devilishly and said "…and my favorite dress which I wear in special occasions. Why did you stop me? What did you think, I was gonna say...Hmmm?" She gave him a killer stare that made Shirou shiver and feel really uncomfortable about the naughty thought he just had.

He awkwardly looked away from the pair of dark blue eyes that was staring at him and said "Let's not discuss this anymore, please."

With that their conversation ended and they left the hospital. It was past midnight when they found a cab to take them home.

**Tohsaka is finally back and poor Sakura needs a new heart or she will go meet Castiel.  
In the next chapter the FIRST SERVANT finally appears. Well technically not the first, but you get the picture.**


	9. The Assassin

**Chapter 8**

**Fuyuki city, Friday, 22:00pm**

Two men were sitting on a bench in a park, specifically the park where the great fire of Fuyuki happened about 19 years ago and took the lives of many people residing nearby. The park has been rebuilt even better and a giant memorial stone was placed in the center, in memory of all the people who were lost. The two men were gazing at it silently then the older one spoke.

"These Japanese, really honor their dead, just look at the size of that stone and all of the flowers which are placed on it. I remember when I was still a human in Scotland, nobody gave a shit about a person who died, sometimes not even his relatives, I saw many funerals take place when I was still a young lad and I always wondered, why there are so few people. "Weren't those people be loved by anyone?" that was the question I often asked myself. That's why when I grew up and saw a funeral going on in my village I stopped by and offered a flower and my goodbyes to the deceased. Man…. I was really sentimental when I was a human. I think I still am a little, since you and your brother made me drink that human blood, don't you think so too Dean?"

Crowley mocked the demon beside him who was none other than Dean Winchester himself. He was sitting next to him emotionlessly and was gazing at the giant stone indifferently, he then spoke angrily.

"Let me get this straight Crowley, you go through the trouble of searching for a piece of my personal belongings that may have been lost. You do all this in hope you can find even a tiny fragment of my soul inside them in order to revive me. You manage to put me back in one piece, you turn me into a demon, have me running all around the world doing your shitty jobs, but when earlier today I brought you that information I was expecting some serious business. Don't tell me you made me follow you here just to hear you crappy stories."

Crowley didn't care Dean was angry or annoyed or anything at all. He was bound to obey his every order, the spell he performed on his soul allowed him to do so and even if Dean was playing the rebel, in fact he was nothing more than a guard dog in a leash, which Crowley was holding tightly. He then answered sarcastically to his remarks.

"Now, now you use too many harsh words and I'm deeply saddened." He said that with a fake sad smile and continued "Do not forget your place boy, I AM the one who has the upper hand now and YOU are the one obeying me, you are little my bitch, NEVER forget that DOG?."

Dean gritted his teeth, he was furious, but he was powerless to stand up to Crowley, if he tried to harm him in any way, a strong pain would paralyze his body. A pain so insufferable that would kill any normal human and it would even make any demon wish he was dead. He knew it firsthand, when he realized he was revived by Crowley, he tried assaulting him, but the pain brought him to his knees. So he endured Crowley's attitude and decided to cooperate until he found a way to free himself from his chains.

"Now then my boy, allow me to explain why we are here in Japan, you see the city we currently are, Fuyuki city is special, the magical veins (or fey lines) of the planet, which are passing through its ground are numerous, comparable to most places in the world, Fuyuki city along with some other places in the global, have the most magical veins running below them, and thus they have the biggest possibility of manifesting supernatural phenomena, like the one I'm about to tell you."

"Supernatural..? You mean like ghosts and monsters?" Dean asked.

"No something completely different. As I said Fuyuki city is a special place due to those veins, but it is not only that, you see Fuyuki city had been twice in the past the hosting place of the Holy Grail War."

"Holy…what?" Dean said while he scratched his head.

"Holy Grail War, you idiot, sometimes I wonder how you managed to stay alive for so long, without being able to remember simple stuff." Said Crowley in his usual insulting tone.

"I had Sam do the boring stuff for me, I am more of the action type of guy." And he puffed his chest proudly.

"Yeah, whatever, let me explain you what this is all about Explanation about the Holy Grail War." Crowley finished his long explanation, took a deep breath and said.

"Now do you understand or do you me to paint you a picture."

"Yeah…ok… I think I got this so we are here to summon a Servant. But why do you need me? Can't you do the summoning yourself?"

"Of course I can you idiot, but I want you to do other things for me after I'm done with that, for example go and find the other Masters and kill them. Honestly, all I was talking about right now was about Servants and Masters killing each other. Haven't you heard anything at all?" Crowley shouted angrily towards him as he stood up and began the preparations for the summoning.

Dean was observing him curiously. He drew a magic circle unlike any other Dean has ever seen, took some of his blood and a pluck of hair, threw them inside the circle and started saying a chant.

"_By the ancient gods and all divines, I summon thou,_

_My blood, is your blood,_

_My body, is your body_

_My wish, is your command,_

_Thou shall not defy me and thou shall not disobey me and_

_Thy shall give you power to fight and _

_Together we shall vanquish our foes._

_By the power of The Holy Grail,_

_I summon thou forth,_

_Come now thy Servant."_

After finishing his incantation, the magical circle shone bright red, Dean heard a buzzing sound, he saw orange sparkles coming down from the sky and they started taking form inside the circle. That was the last thing he saw before passing out.

Crowley didn't notice him passing out, he was too busy watching the summoning. The orange sparkles kept coming down and a figure of a person started forming inside the circle. The sparkles ended and a figure of man could be clearly seen. It was a thin man, too thin to be exact, he looked really frail, his extremely wrinkled face could be seen faintly under his hood. He was wearing a dark orange set of clothes, with some tints of dark red. Two snake like cloth designs were stitched at the back of his clothes and were emerging from behind his head. As he stood his head up, Crowley noticed he had yellow eyes like a demon he once knew.

"So, are you really my servant? I thought Servants were supposed to be strong and powerful. You look sick and frail. Who are you? Please don't make me regret summoning you, if I wanted a lackey for my dirty jobs, I already have one." And he turned his gaze towards Dean, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm… where the hell does he think he's going on his own?... whatever I'll make sure to punish him later. Now about you. Who are you?" Said Crowley annoyed because of Dean's disappearance and due to the fact his servant was looking like an old man who was ready to bite the dust.

The servant then stood straight on his feet, lowered his legs and bowed before Crowley. It was a formal bow, really well made, which impressed Crowley.

"That man must have been a royal person of some kind, a king maybe." Crowley thought. The servant then spoke with his head lowered.

"Servant assassin at your services master, I am pleased to make your acquaintance MR..?" His voice was hoarse, but his reply was extremely formal and polite.

"I am Crowley, king of hell."

The servant was taken by surprise. "The demon king himself summoned me? In that case please forgive my previous rudeness and allow me to reintroduce myself." He cleared his throat and said in more '_normal'_ voice now.

"Greetings my King, I am the servant you have summoned. I belong to the assassin class. Please do not let my looks fool you, I am capable for much more than you could imagine. I will help you crush your enemies to pieces and win the Holy Grail. I am yours to commands my King."

Crowley was obviously dumbfounded. He was used to be respected like that but mostly because of fear not cause of his status. And even though he never met that man in his life before, the tone of his voice was showing respect towards him as King. Then still not sure as to what to believe he replied.

"One last thing, what is your name?" This man had stirred his curiosity and he wanted to know who he really was.

"My name is Loki, Norse god of trickery and deceit, at your commands my king."

Crowley laughed evilly. "Ahahahaha …I couldn't have summoned a more suitable servant. Now then, there is much to be done, let me tell what I have in store for you." He said, while he was laughing satisfied at how things progressed.

**I didn't use the original fate stay night procedure to summon a servant, because I wanted to be original. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Next chapter is DOGGE time.**


	10. The monster and the hunter

**Chapter 9**

Shirou and Tohsaka took a cab from the hospital back to Shirou's home. Shirou fell asleep along the way. The driver noticed it and asked Tohsaka who was awake.

"Tough night…hmm?"

"Yeah you can't imagine what he went through today."

The cab driver sympathized with Shirou "I understand, I had my fair share of tough nights as well, I can relate to him, so mind me for asking why were you at the hospital?"

"His girlfriend had an accident today and she had to be hospitalized. The doctors operated her a couple of hours ago and now she's resting."

The driver apologized and gave his wishes. "Oh I see, I'm sorry. I hope your friend will be okay. I wish her well."

"Yeah I do hope so too, she is a very important and dear person to me too." For the rest of the road no one talked inside the car and Shirou kept sleeping.

"Hmm… when did we arrive here?" Shirou asked when the taxi stopped outside his house.

"While you were dreaming. "Tohsaka joked. They paid the driver and entered the house.

Shirou reached his hand to turn on the lights and headed to the living room.

"I'm going to sleep, if you want to eat anything, see what's in the fridge and suit yourself. Good night….." His voice was showing just how tired he was.

"WAIT…..!" Tohsaka shouted and made him jump in surprise.

"What is it now Tohsaka…?" He was annoyed.

"Where am I sleeping?"

He shouted angrily at her "What do you mean where? Pick any empty room you like or go sleep at the quests room in the courtyard. That's where you slept in the past when I was accommodating you. Please, the hour is past 1:00 am, I'm dead tired and I feel terribly about today's event, don't bother me with such stupid things."

Tohsaka apologized. "I'm sorry Shirou, I am tired as well, so forgive me if I am acting strange. I promise, I won't bother you anymore, I'll be heading now to the quests room in order to rest. "Good night."

"Yeah, whatever, good night, see you in the morning."

They both went to their respective rooms and a few hours passed quietly. Shirou fell asleep almost immediately, though he often woke up due to nightmares.

The electronic clock beside him was showing 5:23 am, Shirou had woken up again, it was the third time in four hours,. The short periods of time he slept weren't enough for him to rest. He changed sides inside his futon, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again. That night was going to be tough for him.

His eyelids were heavy and he was slowly falling into slumber again. His mind was blank and he was about to fall asleep very soon, but then while he was in a near-sleep state, he heard a dog's barking, which was coming from outside the house. It was barking loudly and it annoyed Shirou.

"What's with this dog at this hour?" He cursed his own luck and turned side again.

The dog's kept barking even louder now, which freaked him out. He jumped out of the futon, opened the door to the garden and shouted.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU DAMN DOG, I'VE HAD ENOUGH WITH YOUR KIND TODAY." The barking stopped, he took a large breath and went back in.

He was ready to slip in his futon again. But then the barking started again, this time it was so loud, that Shirou could have sworn that the barking came through a music amplifier. It wasn't only louder it sounded like there were more dogs barking now.

"I'll freaking kill them…." He thought as he opened the garden's door to drive the dogs away from the house but what he saw left him speechless. He forgot to even breathe. He wasn't angry anymore, he was simply dumfounded, he stood there for a while trying to come in terms with what he was seeing. Tohsaka then came out of her room, because of the noise. Her eyes opened wide in surprise. The view was simply too extraordinary even for her to deal with.

In the center of the courtyard, a small human figure was standing, the figure looked like a little girl, she had braided chestnut hair, which looked red under the light of the moon. She was wearing a golden circlet on her head, and a white dress with blue stripes. The dress was decorated with a gold -green belt and had a green gem knit on the chest. She had a mischievous look on her face and she looked like a naughty little kid. But that was not all, what made Shirou and Tohsaka freak out wasn't her childlike figure or the overwhelming magical energy she was emanating, they had experienced similar things in the past so they could not be surprised just by that. What really surprised them was something else, something terrifying, something that would label her as a monster.

The little girl wasn't standing on her feet, but instead four dog heads were emerging from beneath her skirt, they didn't have body or legs, the looked like octopus tentacles but with a dog head. They had black fur and bloodthirsty red eyes, their white teeth shone brightly under the twilight. They looked so sharp that they could easily chew through metal. Shirou regained his composure and asked her hesitantly.

"What are you ….?" And he waited for her reply.

"Me I am but just little girl and I came here to play with you or that girl over there, depends on your answer at my question if you will be the lucky one to play with me and my dogs" She said in a childish voice while she smiled innocently.

It was obvious that she was dangerous and that this affair wouldn't end without a fight. Yet Tohsaka asked her. "What do you wish to know ?" Her voice had her usual composure, but with a slight hint of fear.

The little girl smiled and said in a cheery tone. "I'm really happy, you are cooperative, I'll make sure to play with you a lot if you happen to be the one I'm looking for."

"So…." Her voice suddenly became serious. "Can you please tell me which one of you is the master, my dog Cyril told me there was a master in that house, but unfortunately he couldn't distinguish who the master is, because you are both magi. So whoever the master is, I'd like him to take a step forward please, as for the other one , he can leave, I only want to play with the master and his servant. You see me and my dogs are really bored after we played with that woman earlier this afternoon. She was entertaining as she put up quite the performance, but at the end she got tired and my dogs may have overplayed with her. But who cares for such details? So… which one of you is the master?" Her cheerful tone has returned and she was awaiting impatiently for a reply from either Shirou or Tohsaka.

"Master…? What master…? What are you…"said Tohsaka but then Shirou's loud voice stopped her.

He was trembling in anger and he tried speaking as calmly as humanly possible. "You said, you "_played'_' with a woman this afternoon, right? Don't tell me that woman was inside a mansion in a neighborhood nearby?" he already probably knew the answer, but he asked anyway.

"Why do you even care? Well I'll tell since I'm such a nice girl. Yeah, it was in a neighborhood nearby and she played really well with my dogs and they absolutely loved it. Especially Zoey, she had some real fun chewing the meat of her big boobs all the way to her heart" an evil smile formed on her lips.  
"In fact Zoey hates women with big boobs, so do I. Personally…" her sentence was interrupted by Shirou's yelling.

"TRACE ON" and he replicated with magic two swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, a pair of short-swords which were Shirou's favorite weapons and the ones he was the most adept with. Each sword represented Ying and Yang and each sword had one of these symbols carved on their blades. That's why they also had opposite colors, black and white.

He held firmly each sword in hand and rushed quickly towards that monster's place. His face was showing just how much anger and hatred he felt right now. When he heard that this thing was the one who attacked Sakura, his inner switch flipped and his instincts took over reason. He was clearly no match for her, he knew it, her power was equal to that of a servant, he would probably die, but that didn't trouble him at the moment. All he was thinking was to take revenge for Sakura.

A malicious and scary smile formed on the little girl's lips, then she said happily. " So I see you want to play with my dogs, I'm sure they really wanna eat you…I mean **meet** you."

She then shouted at her dogs, who were awaiting eagerly for their master's command. "Ajax, Achilles, sic him."

Upon hearing her command, two dogs looked with hostility towards Shirou who was charging forward, they barked at him, and then their octopus like bodies extended and they reached to bite him.

He clashed with the two dog heads and fought them as he was trying not to get bitten. A slight scratch from their teeth could easily slash deep into his flesh, he didn't want to imagine, what would happen if he was bitten by them. He was covering all his vital spots skilfully and had fended off most of their attacks, except for a few scratches on his arms, he was holding fine. Nevertheless he was always on the defensive he could not counterattack, only block or dodge their attacks which were slowly driving him to the corner.

The girl noticed that Shirou was under heavy pressure from her two dogs and she then commanded the third head. "Go Zoey" she shouted.

Another dog extended his body and was aiming for Shirou's unguarded side. Shirou could see the attack coming but he could neither dodge it nor block it, he was too busy with the other two heads. If that attack got him, it was all over. Suddenly he was regretting his foolish decision to go against her. Luckily for him the girl didn't take Tohsaka into account.

"Take this you monster." She screamed and from her finger a beam of light was shot to that third monster's head, which stopped its charge in order to dodge it. Then another flash of light exploded brightly at his location and blinded the other two heads. Shirou took that chance to retreat and regroup with Tohsaka.

"Thanks Tohsaka, I owe you one."

She spoke fast. "Don't mention it, now let's see what we can do about that monster, she said that she was looking for a master, so she is probably a servant, a caster is the most possible answer about her class.

"Caster? I thought casters fought with spells, not with dog tentacles?" Shirou asked.

"Maybe they are her familiars, anyway she said something about looking for a master. I'm not a master and neither are you I suppose? Isn't that right?"

He nodded her positively and said "But a servant and a master? haven't we went through all these already? I thought that the Holy Grail wouldn't manifest itself for about fifty years or so. Why is there a servant here? Do you think that maybe her appearance has anything to do with those disturbances you told us at the phone?

She pondered for a while and said with a blank face "I honestly don't have the foggiest idea. Right now we should think how we can survive this. I have an idea. I will stall her here in the courtyard and you will go inside the house and do the summoning for a servant, if she is a servant then only another servant can stop her now, neither you nor I can. Are you with me?" she asked him

He then realized what she was telling him, She was telling him to participate again into the Holy Grail War, this madness that brought them suffering nine years ago, him, her, Sakura, Rider and many more people were its victims. She was telling him to abandon his peaceful up until now life be a master once again and risk his live into this stupid fight. He didn't actually had a choice to begin with, one of them had to summon a servant or they were both done for good.

"Why don't you be the one to do the summoning? Why does it have to be me? You are better magus than I am and you will have a better chance to summon a stronger servant than me?" He asked her.

"It is simple, doing the summoning takes time, which we don't have now and between the two of us I believe I am better suited to stall her, I can buy you more time than you can for me. So please go now. I can manage her for a while."

Her reasoning was correct of course, Shirou as a physical fighter would have a problem dealing with all four dogs simultaneously, but Tohsaka could use her magic to defend against their multiple attacks from afar. He agreed with Tohsaka's suggestion and started running towards the house.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING? "Yelled the little girl and at the exact same moment all four of the dog heads went after Shirou. But four red explosions stopped them and Tohsaka spoke.

"Now you are fighting me, BITCH, let's see what you've got?" Tohsaka challenged the monster girl, drawing away the attention from Shirou. The dog heads growled and barked at her, but she remained calm and launched another barrage of magical attacks at them.

"Let's see if your puppies can handle my magic" She said provokingly.

"Ahahaha…..Okay everyone it's time for some fun" And she pointed her finger at Tohsaka. At her finger's move all four dogs heads lunged at Tohsaka furiously.

Meanwhile Shirou had entered the house and was making preparations for the summoning as fast as he could, he didn't have much time before Tohsaka reached her limit.

"Magic circle check, drops of blood check, tuft of hair check, summoning spell check. Let's do this, here goes nothing." And he started chanting fast.

"_By the ancient gods and all divines, I summon thou,_

_My blood, is your blood,_

_My body, is your body_

_My wish, is your command,_

_Thou shall not defy me and thou shall not disobey me and_

_Thy shall give you power to fight and_

_Together we shall vanquish our foes._

_By the power of The Holy Grail,_

_I summon thou forth,_

_Come now thy Servant."_

The summoning was successful, as the circle glowed bright red, and sparkles were quickly descending from the ceiling and were forming the servant's figure. They sparkles disappeared after a few seconds and then a bright red flash, blinded him. When he opened his eyes, inside the circle was a man, who looked at him and said

"I am the servant rider. Are you my master kid?" His voice was firm and even though he appeared to be mocking him, he seemed an honest person.

The servant was taller than Shirou, he had dark blonde hair and green eyes. He was wearing a simple black t shirt and a dark green jacket along with a pair of blue jeans and running shoes. He didn't wear any kind of armor like Saber (Shirou previous servant in the last Holy Grail War), but he was holding a machete on his right hand, which to Shirou's surprise had an AC/DC's sticker on it.

"Yes I am you master and I need your help. There is someone in my courtyard who is trying to kill me and my friend, I need your help to take her down." He briefed him up about the situation, they were currently in.

"Lead the way" The servant answered willingly. And they started running towards the courtyard.

The situation was pretty much as he had anticipated. Tohsaka was nearly at her limit and the dog heads were all assaulting her nonstop. She was throwing them magical beams and energy balls as fast as she could but they had the upper hand and they were advancing slowly but steadily towards her. Tohsaka saw Shirou and the servant he just summoned, her eyes went wide open, but she snapped back immediately. And shouted at them.

"A little help would be really nice right now"

After hearing her words Shirou, recreated the pair of sword he was previously holding and told his servant. " We are going to attack her from two sides, I go left, you go right grab Tohsaka and then come help me, ok?" he waited for his servant confirmation but what he heard surprised him.

"I have a better idea I draw all the attention and you go save the girl, then both of you go hide someplace safe and wait for me to clean up this mess." He said and started running.

Shirou was surprised, he opened his mouth to complain about the plan, but his servant had already jumped into the fray. He sighed and decided to go along with his rebellious servant's plan for now. His speed was extraordinary, he was of the rider's class after all, , but it wasn't only his speed that was impressive. He was good with swords as well. With the machete he was holding at his right hand, he slashed the dog heads in every chance he got. The dogs were dizzy, his speed had confused them and they were missing their attacks, the little girl was getting angry as she was seeing that her pets failed to even scratch their target.

Their clash continued for about a minute, during that time Shirou's servant had slashed the dogs dozens of times and have wounded all of them as they were all bleeding, yet he could never go for the killing blow, not even once. Still Shirou and Tohsaka were looking at him impressed at his abilities, he was dealing with such ease with the same thing that drove both of them in a corner. That was a servant's power after all, no matter how strong a human is, his strength cannot compare to that of a servant.

The servant slashed one more time one of the dogs heads and then he jumped backwards, reached his hand for the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a silver gun, both of them were really surprised to see something like that. They hadn't met before a servant who was using modern weaponry.

He shouted "Eat silver, you SON OF A BITCH." And aimed his gun at the little girl, he fired. The moment before that happened all of the dogs simultaneously got in the way to protect their master. The first dog head received the bullet and then howled in pain.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO CYRIL….AAAA…. NOW YOU'LL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE. I WILL SHOW YOU HOW FOOLISH YOU ARE TO FIGHT A MONSTER LIKE ME." The little girl had lost any fragment of humanity she had a moment ago. Her face was distorted by anger and her voice wasn't that of a little girl, not even close to human, it was that of a monster.

Shirou's servant then, unmoved by her attitude emotionlessly said. "Little girl, I have seen hell and fought numerous monsters during my lifetime. Believe me you are nowhere near close to what I have experienced. So if you don't want me to fill your puppies with holes, I suggest you leave now. And leave me and those kids here alone."

Caster staggered, even though she was not scared of him, she was sure that this man's worlds were holding some truth. His inhumanly emotionless face before her validated her opinion and she decided to back off for now. Her dogs were injured and she also needed a plan before trying to take them on again. Before she jumped off the fence she said to all of them.

"You are lucky I have to tend to my dogs wounds, I'll be back and when I will, I'll make sure to make you take back those impudent words you just said. I will show you HELL, I AM A MONSTER after all, nothing like those you claim to have faced." She disappeared in the morning mist still laughing.

"Ooof…. that was a tough nut. It's gonna be hard to crack it." Said Shirou's servant while he was still looking at the direction the little girl disappeared.

Shirou then spoke. "Yeah, you could say that again, but we have other problems now. I think we should prepare ourselves for the police. One the neighbors surely must have called them due to all that ruckus, we caused. I wonder what we will say to them. It sure was nice that when that kind of thing happened nine years ago, there were no houses around here and I never had this kind of problem before. I have to think of a really good explanation to give to the police" He scratched his chin as he was thinking his excuse.

His servant answer relieved him of that stress. " Do not worry, I handle cops really well, I know how they work and what they want to hear in order to leave you alone. You must sound convincing when you lie to them. Let me explain them the situation when they arrive."

Shirou was surprised to hear that. "Just what kind of heroic spirit that man is, he wears modern clothes, uses guns and now he's telling me that he has plenty of experience of dealing with the police. Hope he is not the heroic spirit of a gangster or something." He thought as he smiled awkwardly at him.

The servant then spoke again. "Now one last thing, before I take care of the cops, I want to make sure that my baby is ok."

"Excuse me, your what…? You have a BABY?" Shouted Shirou, he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Yeah I do, I came here with her, she must be nearby, probably out in the street." He said while he was heading to the front door.

He stepped outside and said happily "Here she is, my baby, do you wanna see her? How beautiful, she is."

Shirou walked towards him and shouted "Are you completely out of your mind? You brought your baby daughter to the Holy Grail War and not only that you ditched her on the road? Just how irresponsible of a parent can someone be? I wonder why I summoned a servant like you? You should really….."he cut his sentence midterm as he saw his servant's 'baby'.

" You are crazy, you know that."Shirou said and his servant replied.

He smiled and said "Yeah, my brother had the same reaction as you did when she saw her for the first time after I got her."

**My favorite Smite goddess kicked some ass in this chapter. I would like to ask any Smite fans if you liked the usage of her ingame quotes?  
I'm going to write more of them if you do, for Caster and the other gods and goddesses as well, there will be more gods appearing later than the numbers of servants that the Holy Grail allows, but all in due time.**

**Also if anyone is wondering about Dean's weapons, I suggest you look Chapter 4 (A Brotherly tragedy) to see the reason. Also now you know what Sam saw at the TV news that day and freaked out.**

**Next chapter: Saber summoning and a little something to spice things up.**

**I'm leaving for vacations tomorrow so there won't be an update for a while.  
Hope you are enjoying the story so far and to all of you, have a GOOD SUMMER ****＼（＾=＾）／**


	11. The Angel and his Sword

**This chapter takes place in the future two days (in USA time) after the attack of Caster at Shirou's residence. Some important events before that are preceding, but they will be revealed in future chapters.**

* * *

**The Angel and his Sword**

**Sunday morning 12:03pm USA time.**

The doors to Heaven have been repaired at last, normally the repairs would have taken longer to complete, but thanks to Castiel's help who worked nonstop since Friday; everything was in order. They were done and he was finally back on Earth, in order to see how the brothers were doing. He couldn't locate them anywhere on the country so he thought they must have been at the safe house which had protection against both demons and angels. Their safe house was a perfect underground fortress.  
It operated on its own power source and had two identical reserves in case of failure. This kind of power system could solve the energy problem of the planet, but the Men of letters (the people who used that safe house as a base before the Winchesters) never shared their secrets with the common folk.  
In fact they were quite the arrogant pricks who thought highly of themselves, because of their vast knowledge of the universe. Ironically that was what ultimately lead to their demise. They believed that because they knew how to kill a demon they were safe, but a demon possessed one of their members and destroyed their organization from the inside. That was their end and their existence would have stayed a buried secret if it wasn't for the Winchesters, who discovered one day that their grandfather was a Man of letters and they were his living legacies.  
Castiel thought of many things he wanted to share with his friends, as he was walking along the road. He wanted to know what happened that night with Metatron, tell them that he's now in charge of Heaven and everything will return to their previous peaceful state. And of course ask them what their plans are for now. He was carrying a box of beers with him to celebrate the reunion.  
He began treading faster; his brown trench coat was now good as new thanks to Hannah, who offered to fix it; of course she used her angel magic to make it look as it was just bought from the shop. She offered to clean up his other clothes as well, since he was going on a visit and she suggested him that he should look presentable. Castiel took up on her offer and he gave her his clothes. As Castiel remembered the scene, he couldn't help, but chuckle.

**An hour ago**

"Castiel, I'm telling you can't go visit the brothers like this." Hannah said as she touched her forehead in frustration.

"Why can't I? Those two never really bothered with appearances anyway. They won't even notice it. Besides, why don't you clean me up with magic? It will be easier and faster this way." said Castiel in an effort to defend himself.

Hannah though was determined to do as she wanted and said confidently "True I could clean you with magic but I won't. You haven't regained your grace yet and you can't rely on other angels all the time; not for such things that you can easily do yourself." Castiel tilted his head in question.

She sighed tired and said. "How can I say it? It is not polite to visit someone's home, if you are dressed like this. Your clothes have dirt on them and they have holes.  
Honestly!  
Have you taken a look at yourself lately?! You worked nonstop all these hours and your clothes are a mess. I demand that you let me fix them up and that you go take a bath before going to visit them." She sounded absolute. She didn't seem like she was going to _"no"_ for an answer.

"I think you are overreacting Hannah. I understand your zeal, but this is not work, you don't have to be so uptight." Castiel calmly explained her.

But she was unmoved, her face was telling him so, as she gave him a glare that was like saying him _"You will either do it yourself or I swear I'm going to sprinkle you with the hose." _

Castiel accepted his fate and started undressing in front of her. When Hannah saw him, her cheeks turned red.

"W-What do you think you are doing now? I am thankful that you decided to take my advice, but could you wait until I left the room before undressing?"  
She was embarrassed to see her boss like this. She didn't know if she should leave or stay until he finishes undressing. She decided to do the first. She walked towards the door, but she heard Castiel shouting her name from behind.

"Hey Hannah… where are you going? I thought you were going to take my clothes. I can't give them to you if you are not here. Wait please until I'm done." Castiel ordered her.  
_"I don't mean to tease her, but she asked for it. She could have just fixed me up with her magic in the first place. Time for a little payback"_ he thought as he was removing his shirt and proceeded to take off his pants.

Hannah remained stuck in one place, with her eyes staring at the white marble floor. She waited for a few moments and then she lifted her head to see if Castiel was done. She saw him wearing only his underwear, holding out the rest of his clothes at her with an unfitting smile on his face. She immediately shut her eyes, then she reached to grab them with her right hand while with the left she covered her eyes. Even though she tried not to peek on Castiel, she couldn't help, but take a quick glimpse at his well-built body.

She grabbed Castiel's clothes and asked him "Is that all? Can I take my leave now?" Still with her eyes shut.

"Actually….there is one more thing, I want from you…..while I was working at the repairs I badly hurt my arm and I would have trouble washing my back so if you don't mind…..  
I would like you to enter the bath with me and help me out. Of course you can't enter with those clothes, you will have to undress as well, or you will get wet." He was ready to burst out in laughter, but he held back his urge to see her reaction.

Hannah cheeks turned from light red to tomato red, she opened her eyes flustered and blinked multiple times.  
"Eeeeek…!" She shrieked.  
She scolded him harshly. "Are you out of your mind Castiel? You do know that we will be breaking the rules if we do that. What will the others say if they learnt about it? Plus I have no experience on that matter maybe you should ask someone who knows, I can find you one if you like." She panted and stared him.

Castiel closed his eyes waiting to be slapped on the face for saying something so outrageous to her. But he was taken by surprise, when he opened them and he saw Hannah standing there looking him with puppy eyes. He thought to himself.

_"__Wait why she is still here? I thought she would have left. She couldn't possibly want to…"_ Her intense stare was driving him crazy, he wanted to lunge at her, pin her down and do all sort of stuff with her. He brought himself closer to her and hugged her. She was weak. Nothing like the dynamic person she normally was.

"C-Castiel…! What are you doing?" Castiel's unexpected move made Hannah's eyes open wide.

Castiel didn't answer her instead he grabbed her head, forced her to look him and kissed her. She resisted him and backed off a few steps. "What are you doing? What was that about?"

Castiel was determined not to let her go and grabbed her again by her waist and brought her closer to him. "Hey let me go, I must go clean your clothes now and you have to go bathe so I….."

_"__THUMP_"

Castiel had thrown her at the wall, he held her firmly by the wrists and pressed his lips against hers. They were soft and tasted sweet. He felt her hot breath in his mouth.  
He let go of her wrists, still kissing her, and he started to run his fingers over the smooth skin of her thigh in a feverish motion.

"Castie…..hold on!"

"Let me handle this Hannah, it will relax you." His finger reached her chest. "You will feel more comfortable if I take this off." Castiel removed her white jacket and started undoing her shirt one button at a time. Hannah grabs onto Castiel as if to stop him, but she cannot fight, she's under his control. As soon as the last button is unfastened and the cloth is removed, Castiel stares at Hannah's bare skin.

She turned away her gaze from Castiel and in a really girly voice she said "Don't look at me like that, I'm embarrassed." Castiel wasn't doing it on purpose of course. He couldn't take his eyes off Hannah.  
Like her soft looking breasts, her long smooth chocolate hair,  
her shoulders that look slender and soft  
and her gorgeous thighs coming out of her skirt.  
He was fascinated by all of her feminine parts.

"You are beautiful!"

She looked at him "Are you sure it is ok to do something like this? Have you ever done it before?"

Castiel gulped as he remembered his first time. "Yes I had sex before. Well it turned out bad though, because later I found out she was a grim reaper that was after my life and I had to kill her afterwasrds, but the experience itself was magnificent so relax and let yourself go."

"If you say so, I'll do as you tell me to." Castiel backed off from her and asked her.

His face was serious "You don't want to have sex with me Hannah? If you are only forcing yourself, because I'm your boss, we should end this now."

"Wait…..what you are asking me now is unfair. How could I not want to do it with you? Of course I want to.  
B-but it's that, how will thing be between us after tonight?  
Will we able to work together again as we used to?  
We have Heaven to rebuild, if our relationship is unstable then there will be problems.  
If we…." Castiel put his finger on her mouth.

"Shh…As I said you always worry too much. Do not concern yourself with such things now." She smiled at him sweetly.  
"Are you feeling better now? Do you still want to do it with me?"

She chuckled "Don't worry about me, right now I just want you to jam it in…... NOW! "

Castiel was taken aback by hearing these words coming from his assistant's mouth "_Now she tries to talk dirty. Hmm I may have judged her wrong, she actually is a person who knows how to enjoy herself. This is surely going to be fun."_ He thought before throwing her on his desk and made love to her.

* * *

**CURRENT TIME**

While he was reminiscing that, Castiel realized that he was already at the safe house. He approached and knocked the metallic door twice with his free hand, as he was holding the box with the beers with the other.

He heard neither footsteps nor voices _"Maybe they are sleeping"_ he thought.

"HEY DEAN, SAM, guess who is back? I've brought beers too. COME ON now you lazy asses, open up."

Still no response, he knocked again and again and called them one more time.  
Nothing! Absolute silence.  
He started to worry, he knew it wasn't right to do it, but he had no choice. He reached for his inner pocket and took out the spare pair of keys which they have given him in case of emergency. He unlocked the door and stepped in.

It was pitch black inside, the only light was coming from the door. He looked for the light switches.  
"Come on now, I'm sure they were here somewhere." After a few moments in the dark, he found them and flipped them. Two old fashioned power switches like in the movies.

The safe house was as he remembered it. A staircase was going down from where he stood and lead to the main control room. The control room had some outdated communication devices like a telegraph and WWII radio which surprisingly were still functioning perfectly. In the center of the room there was a map of the global which was connected to a supercomputer down in the basement. Past the control room was the library. There were all kinds of books in there. Books about monsters, ghosts, demons even fairytales and porn magazines. On the left side of the library there was a small room which the brothers decided to call _"Armory"_ since it was filled with swords from every era, which to this day were pretty sharp. And on the right side there was a small kitchen. In the middle of the library there was a long wooden table made of mahogany. On this table Dean and Sam usually planned their strategy for their upcoming hunts. Castiel noticed that it was filled with open books and notes as usual.

_ "__So they are out on a hunt. But if that's the case why can't I find them anywhere?!"_ Castiel thought half worryingly and went beyond the library where their private rooms where located to see if he could find a note of some sort as to where they are.

He entered Dean's room first. To his surprise it was empty. All of Dean's personal belongings were missing and only some unimportant things were left. Some old porn magazines, a worn out set of sports clothes and an old pair of sock with holes. Nothing else; it was as if he decided to move out and took all of his stuff with him.

_"__Maybe they are on the run and they are hiding somewhere else in order to escape. If that's the case they should have left behind a clue behind that I should be able to understand as to where they have gone. I should look in Sam's room as well."_  
Castiel's conclusion was reasonable, since they beat Metatron and Castiel became the new ruler of Heaven, there may be still some of Metatron's supporters hunting down Dean and Sam for revenge.

He went straight to Sam's room which was located to the opposite side of his brother's room. He stepped in and looked around observing the place carefully.

"Certainly Sam must have left in a hurry as well. His closets were open and clothes were missing, but the room was not completely empty. It is not like Dean's room where all of his stuff is gone. Of course the weapon case was empty as well". But Castiel noticed something else on Sam's bed, he saw a piece of paper on the covers.

"Maybe it is a clue!" He said out loud as he went closer and grabbed it. It was written by Sam and what surprised him even more was that it was addressed to him. He started reading it quietly.

_Hello Cass_

_This is Sam, if you are reading this, then the gates of Heaven are probably restored. I'm happy for you, you have a chance to build your home like you want to. Along with the others up there. Unfortunately things didn't turn out that well for us. I don't really know how to say it, but we are the Winchester brothers no more. I walk alone now._

_I'm sure this will surely make you feel bad, but I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened to Dean. We all knew what was at stake when we decided to take on this task. And unfortunately Dean drew the short end of the straw. He passed away smiling so I want you to do that as well. Consider it Dean's last wish._

_As for me I cannot accept it just yet, you see I saw something that made me think that maybe he's not gone. I know that you will probably think that I'm going crazy, in fact I believe so too; but I just can't get out of my mind what I saw. I'm sure it was an optical illusion or my mind playing me tricks, but I decided to look into it._

_So what I want to say is that I'm leaving to go search for him. Because I know that you will surely try to follow me, I made sure to tattoo on my body the angelic symbols that keep me hidden from angels. You know, the ones you taught us how to write. I'm just telling you beforehand so you won't search for me in vain. I beg you, please don't follow me. Go help your people and leave me alone. I just want to confirm that what I saw was an illusion. Only then I would be able to let him go. Rest assured, when this is all over, I'll be the one to call you and have some drinks with you._

_Your friend Sam._

_P.S. I burned Dean along with all of his personal close belongings and then I burnt the rest separately, so I'm pretty sure that what I saw was not a ghost. Ghosts cannot drive the Impala, which happens to be in the garage downstairs. That's why I desperately want to confirm what I saw. Don't worry I'll make sure that the impersonator gets what he deserves._

He finished reading Sam's letter. He sighed and said out loud in a sad voice. "So Metatron managed to kill Dean before falling for my trap. Damn it! I should have been faster.  
If I had, none of this would have happened." Then he remembered what Sam asked him to do.

"_I don't want you to blame yourself, for what happened to Dean. We all knew what was at stake when we decided to take on this task"_

_"__Right, right, But still I cannot get over it so easily. Anyway, I wonder why he would ask me something as ridiculous as to give up on Dean.  
Especially when there's a chance that he's still alive. Those two were in the first place the ones who taught me to never abandon your family. I should go look over the books Sam was searching in the library and search his room for any clues as to which his destination is."_ He started carefully going again all over the room and when he failed to found something he headed to the library to study the books.

Even though he studied them carefully, he didn't find anything substantial. Only some books that were referring to the Holy Grail, which supposedly God created and it contained His will. It was said that it could grant any wish as it was omnipotent.  
As an angel he knew that the Holy Grail was but a human myth. He thought so, because when he first learnt about it, was when humans started creating religions; if it truly existed he would have known, or so he thought.

_"__Hmm I wonder if Father is crazy enough to create something as powerful as Him. I'm sure He would do it, just to kill time."_ Castiel thought when he read the _'omnipotent'_ part.

The documents and all the notes he found were mostly useless. He was ready to give up, then he had an epiphany.  
"The computer!"  
"Of course, Sam might have searched in the web for information. If I go through the browsing history I might find something." He shouted out loud.

Castiel turned on the safe house's computer. Well computer was the word to describe it, but in truth it was much more capable than a normal computer. It was powered by a super battery which the Men of letter created; it had the computing power of a modern supercomputer, and it could be used to find demon or angel activity throughout the world and display it on the giant monitor map in the control room. It was truly a miracle of technology and magic that the men of Letter kept hidden for ages. One of Sam and Dean's friend Charlie, managed to connect this computer to the internet and modify if so that it would be _"user friendly"._

Castiel had learnt to use the computer by watching the brothers operate it who learnt it from Charlie who taught herself. He opened the browser and looked through the browsing history. What he found out was worth the search. Apparently at a city called Fuyuki in Japan, a woman was assaulted by a wild animal that nearly killed her and that monster attacked again another house later that day. There was footage video from a witness, he pressed play as he mumbled.

"Fuyuki…..why does this name sound familiar? Have I seen it before somewhere? Nah… I can't remember now" He sighed disappointed and watched the video.

Smashing and exploding sounds could be heard inside the house. Then a bright red flash appeared and unclear voices shouting frantically were heard. Then again battle sounds and screams echoed and finally a gunshot. After a while a silhouette jumped over the wall and disappeared before the camera could focus on its position, the witness slowly walked towards the house's entrance. A car was parked outside it was a black antique car.

_"__Is that the Impala? But how? The car is inside the garage below. It must be another car identical to the one here."_ Castiel thought immediately, but the video footage wasn't over.  
The front door opened and a man came out. If he wasn't told that he was dead, his question would normally be. _"Why Dean took the Impala and travelled to Japan?"_ That's how much the man he saw looked like Dean, Castiel simply didn't know what to believe.

Then he had another epiphany. He remembered where he had seen the name of that Japanese city. It was at one of the reports Hannah gave him two days ago, he had placed it inside his desk to study it later, but he never did. He simply forgot about its existence and it would have remained like that, if it wasn't for tonight's event. He decided to return back to Heaven. After taking some of Sam's notes with him, he exited the safe house, locked the door behind him and called for an angel to pick him up.

He entered Heaven's hall and fast walked to his office. Hannah spotted him from afar. She walked towards him and in a perky voice she greeted him. "Hello Castiel, back so soon?"

Castiel wanted to explain to her, but he was in a hurry so he just sent her away. "Hannah I'm going into my office, please do not let anyone disturb me. I have something to do." He said so and left her behind dumfounded with a confused look on her face.

Castiel shut the door behind him and approached the drawer where the report was. He opened it and found it inside. After he finished studying it. It didn't take him long to draw the dots between his clues. A war was going to happen at that Fuyuki city and Dean had been summoned to fight as a soldier. And what was worse was that Sam was going right now at that place. They were both in danger and he wanted to help them, but without his grace going against those servants was suicide.

"I guess there is no other choice left then…. but to do that." He muttered to himself.

He had decided to follow the rules of the war and summon a servant of his own as well. Luckily for him, he managed to find the preparations for the ritual in one of Sam's notes. He did everything that was written at that piece of paper and began chanting, in hope that all of his efforts weren't in vain.

He finished the incantation and the magic circle glowed blue. Sparks began gathering inside the circle slowly forming a human figure. Castiel noticed that it was a female one. The room shone in a bright blue light and inside the circle a person appeared, a woman yielding an exquisite sword. She turned up her head to face him. Castiel couldn't see her face since she was wearing a mask that covered everything up her nose. She introduced herself.

"I am the saber class servant. You angel," she pointed at Castiel "are you my master?"

Castiel was shocked at her boldness, he gulped and answered to her "Yes I am the one who summoned you. My name is Castiel and I'm an angel of Heaven as you noticed correctly, I want you to help me with the Holy Grail War, I have some friends that need my help. Will you lend your sword Saber?" he asked.

She answered proudly "I am yours to command my master, I am your sword to this war and I shall be the one to protect you, even with my life, if the situation demands it."

After hearing her words, Castiel felt lucky that he summoned a servant like her. He was sure that she was a strong and valiant warrior who possessed both determination and courage. He shouted enthusiastically. "Okay Saber, let's go kick some ass." She remained silent.

"What is it?" Castiel asked her due to her sudden silence.

"I don't know your fighting style master, but I doubt that kicking our opponents at their buttocks is enough to take them down." She tilted her head confused.

"W-what? No I didn't mean that. What I mean is that…..nah forget it, I'll tell you some other time." Castiel shook his head in disappointment.  
"_I guess what the books were saying that the servant you summon has similar personality to the master is true. I remember asking the exact same thing to Dean. Oh yeah I should ask her name, I can't just call her Saber."_

Castiel cleared his throat and looked over at Saber "So, you haven't told your name yet. I'd like to know your true name, since we will be fighting side by side from now on."

Saber stood in a straight position and spoke in a clear voice "Since you are my master I suppose you should know. I have many names like Ichnaii, Adrasteia, or Rhamnous, but the most common and the one and the one that most people know is Nemesis."

Castiel gulped and took some steps back _"Nice going me. I summoned one of the few beings in the universe that were created to punish and even kill gods, if it was necessary.  
I should be really careful not to anger her. She might accidentally kill me."_

"What's wrong Castiel? What happened to your previous enthusiasm?" Nemesis asked him in a puzzled voice.

"Nothing, don't worry I'm just going to pack some stuff. You sit tight, over there ok?" He pointed at his office's chair. She nodded and sat on it; she crossed her legs and waited for him to finish his preparations for their trip.

**From now on the story will continue normally in the present (From now on everything happens in Japan's timeline). Since soon all of the protagonists will be gathered at Fuyuki city where the Holy Grail war will take place.**

**Also I had other thing in mind when I was writing the CastielxHannah scene. It didn't turn out as I had it envisioned in my head. I was intending to present it in more detail, but I thought I was getting out of topic while I wrote it so I let only the foreplay.  
****I'd like to hear, if you liked it that way.**


	12. Master meets Servant

**Fuyuki city, Saturday morning 6:17 am**

The police sirens could be heard from afar; their sound growing louder and louder as their car was approaching Shirou's residence which they were called to investigate; a neighbor had called them, because she heard the fuss from the battle with Caster. The car parked next to the front door, its tires' screech echoed in the neighborhood as it braked; the two front doors of the car opened; a male and a female officer stepped out. The two officers entered the courtyard which was looking pretty normal, considering the fact that a fight had taken place not too long ago; they rang the house's doorbell.

_"__DING, DONG"_

"I'm coming, please give me a moment." A man's voice was heard from inside the house.

The first officer looked at his to his partner sighed annoyed "See everything looks normal, just as I thought it would be. I told you that this lady who called us was probably a lunatic. There was no need to come here after all.  
Boy…! I hate morning cold. I'm freezing." He complained as he tightened his jacket around him.

"Well…! It's all part of the job, deal with it. I don't like it either getting dragged to the other side of the city, just because a random woman said she saw some kind of dog monster." Answered his partner.

"Since we agree on that; why did we have to come here? Our shift ends in half an hour.  
I can't wait to return home, take a hot bath and go sleep."

"She also mentioned something about some people fighting and she heard a gunshot as well didn't she? We had to come here for at least that much.  
So suck it!"

The male officer grumbled "I should have been a baker; yes a baker like my father and my grandfather before him. At least I would have had steady work hours."

"Will you stop your nagging already? Someone is coming."

The door opened. And a man with dark blond hair and green eyes appeared. He smiled at them and they greeted him by tipping their hats.

"Uhhm…Good morning officers…. Why are you here so early in the morning? Did something happen?" He asked them politely.

The female officer spoke first "Good morning sir, I'm really sorry if we woke you up, but you see we had a complaint from a neighbor, specifically Mrs. Chang who lives across the street. She called at the station earlier and stated that she heard people fighting here. How do you explain this Mr….?"

"Angus Young." The man answered. The male officer stared at him suspiciously.

"Excuse me for asking sir, isn't that the AC/DC's guitarist's name.

"Yeah, I get that a lot, my father was a big fan of their band and named me after him." The man explained.

"I see, but just for the procedure can you show me some ID card?"

"Of course" The man replied willingly and took out his wallet from inside his breast pocket. He opened it and showed the policeman his ID. The officer took it in his hand and after inspecting it he returned it to him.

"Everything seems in order. Now can you explain us what happened here? Did a brawl really take place here?"

The man at the door brushed his hair awkwardly and said. "Ooh I see….! Well I'm sorry that you came here for nothing, but what Mrs. Chang heard was nothing more than a small fight I had some minutes ago with a drunkard. You see I just came from abroad to visit my friend living here and after I arrived at her house and the taxi that brought me here left ; a drunk man came out of nowhere and demanded me to hand over my wallet.  
I noticed his condition and I asked him to put the knife down and calm down, he refused and attacked me, so I was forced to defend myself, what Mrs. Chang must have heard was probably the noises of the two of us fighting."

"So she was correct when she reported that she heard people fighting, but it turned out to be nothing more than a drunkard asking for drinking money." The male officer muttered.

"This time the female officer took the initiative and asked "But how did you manage to defend yourself from an armed assault?"

"As I said he was drunk as hell and I know a thing or two about self-defense."

"I see, one last thing, sir and we are done." Said the female officer.

"Of course." He answered in a willing voice.

The female officer made her question "Mrs. Chang mentioned that she saw a monster jumping over the fence? She said it looked like a human with dog tentacles as legs. How can you explain that?"  
She tried to sound as professional as possible when she described the monster. Disturbing people at this ungodly hour for something as ludicrous as this could make even the most patient people lose their temper.

The man at the door rubbed his nose and said "Well…I'm not sure how can I explain something like this. I should let my friend who lives here explain it since she knows Mrs. Chang better than me. Please wait a minute, she was having a morning shower when you came. I'm going to call her now." He went back in and came out with a woman after a while.

The woman had her hair wrapped in a bath towel which was wet ; the hair that came out of the towel were still drooling. She saw the two officers and greeted them with a smile. "Good morning officers, how can I help you? I'm sorry for my inappropriate appearance, but I was taking a bath when Angus called me."

"No need to apologize. We're sorry for interrupting your bath madam for something like this, but could you please explain us the reason why Mrs. Chang says she saw what she saw?"

"Of course, officer, Angus here explained me the situation, when he came to get me. Everything he said you was true. I was expecting him to arrive here right around this hour, so I was awake when he arrived. When I heard voices from outside the house I went to see what was going on. And I saw him fighting with a man who was holding a knife, thankfully he wasn't hurt and managed to drive the man away."

"Yeah your friend told us about this part already, can you please explain us why Mrs. Chang thinks she saw a dog monster coming out of your courtyard?"

"I was getting to that. As for your questions about Mrs. Chang, I must admit that I was quite surprised to hear something like that, it is strange even for her to say those kind of things. You see Mrs. Chang is somehow special, she has a rare medical condition. She suffers from hallucinations."

"What do you mean?" The male officer interjected.

"It is a rare mental disease whose name I can't remember right now.  
Anyway lately her condition has gotten worse, the hallucinations occur in an even more frequent rate as I've heard from people that take care of her. If she takes her pill she is usually fine but if she forgets to do so, those things happen."

"Poor woman!" said the female officer as she covered her mouth in surprise.

"Indeed! She also has no one to take care of her, no parents, no friends, no husband or a companion. Only some people of the neighborhood take care of her and make sure she is ok; sometimes I too bring her food or magazines to read."

"Interesting! Anything else about Mrs. Chang that we should know?" The male officer uttered loudly and gave his partner a look _"I told you so"._

"Well there are a few other things. I have figured out she likes staring at the moon especially during full moon nights I have seen her dancing in her courtyard. In fact she is quite the elegant dancer despite her condition."

"I see, anything else…?" The male officer asked indifferently, while writing down a synopsis of what he heard on his notebook.

"Well….Her only company despite visiting neighbors, is her pet rabbit which she has with her since the day she moved here."

"With all due respect madam, but we don't care about things like that, if there is nothing else to add; I believe we're finished here." The male officer responded abruptly.

"As you wish officer. Anyway what I'm trying to prove is this; as you might have already understood Mrs. Chang isn't the most trustworthy person in existence. What she claims she saw, was probably another one of her hallucinations."

"Yeah, we thought as much" The female officer cut in.

The male officer finished taking notes. He let out a small breath. "Thank you both for your cooperation, you have been really helpful both of you, lastly before we depart; would you like to file a warrant against the mugger?"

The man spoke. "No, it's not worth it. He was a miserable drunkard after all."

"As you wish sir." He put away his notebook in his jacket's pocket and addressed to both the man and woman at the door. "Ok since we are done, we shall depart now. Have a nice day sir, madam" The officers bid them farewell and left from the front door.

As soon as they were out of sight, the woman turned to look the man. "Well Dean I must admit, your plan was exquisite. They totally bought it."

"I told you it will work Rin. You also played your part really well. Have you been taking acting lessons or something?"

"No, but I'm used to lying. It is essential, if you want to succeed in my line of work."

"Yeah, mine too. In order to tell apart a liar, you must be a better liar than him. That's my opinion at least."

"And I totally agree with it" Tohsaka replied with a smile.

Another person came then at the door from inside the house and said to both of them.  
"What a lovely conversation you two have here!"

Dean looked at him and frowned displeased. "And here comes the party crusher. Will you quit with your grieving already?"

"He's right Shirou, it was the only thing we could do in order to get the police off our backs. Dean's idea was correct. Be thankful that the officers didn't dig any deeper or we would be in trouble now."

"Maybe! But still I can't believe you two. You lied to the police and you did it so casually, like you do this thing every day. I wouldn't be able to lie that well even if I practiced."

"I do it often at my work all the time" Tohsaka said proudly as she was removing the towel, she had put on to look like she was bathing. Her long black hair fell down and she fixed them with her hand.

Dean's answer was similar "Yeah me too, I did that a lot when I was alive, so I'm used to. Seriously now Shirou you must relax a little. How are you going to fight in this war, if you can't even tell a tiny lie to the police? Take an example from Rin, she is a natural at this"

"No comment, about that last thing, but seriously what's it with you?" He slapped the wall angrily. "You are unbelievable! From all the servants I have met so far; you are by far the most recalcitrant and the most annoying of them all.  
You may have saved us from that monster and I thank you for that, but from there everything went to hell.  
For starters, you lied to the police and risked to get us all in unnecessary trouble.  
You falsely blamed one of the neighbors for being crazy.  
And worst of all I learnt your true name from Tohsaka" Shirou pointed at Tohsaka who looked at him indifferently.

"Hey, in my defense, you are the one who told me that she actually dances alone in her garden during full moon nights; so I decided to use this information to make our story believable. I mean a person like this will probably seem like a lunatic to most people." Shirou grunted, because Dean was right.

"And as for the last thing, the reason is simple. Since Rin was the one who wanted to go along with my plan in the first place, we had to get acquainted with each over. Basic rule of a successful plan; know who you're working with. Well I didn't say my name to you when we first met, because we were under attack and you never asked me afterwards."

"Still that…." Shirou's sentence was interrupted by Tohsaka.

"Will you both shut it? I'm freezing here. Let's go in and have some breakfast. Solve your differences inside."

"Yeah Rin is right Shirou. It is chilly out there and I'm starving as well. I will answer all of your questions later inside. Now let's go I can't wait to taste how real japanese food tastes like. I have only eaten japanese food at Chinatown."

Shirou was ready to punch him in the face; annoyed by his arrogant attitude, but he decided to suppress it and wait for his servant's explanations during breakfast. "Ok sure, let's go have breakfast."

* * *

In the kitchen Shirou prepared the breakfast there without saying a word at Tohsaka and Dean, who were chatting happily about stuff.

He mumbled to himself "Why did I summon someone like him? This is a perfect match for Tohsaka not me. Man…..I miss Saber. She was really well behaved and never did anything to upset me."

Shirou placed the food dishes on the table and sat down along with the others.

"Let's dig in!" Dean shouted enthusiastically. He grabbed the chopsticks and started eating.

Shirou looked at him surprise as he was ready to swallow the first mouthful. He noticed his stare and asked him with a full mouth.

"Hmm….munch, munch….What? ...Do I have sauce on my face?"

Shirou opened his mouth to complain, but Tohsaka seemed to have realized the misunderstanding and explained before Shirou started ranting about Dean's behavior again.

"Shirou please understand. He's a foreigner, he probably doesn't know about our custom to say "_Itadakimasu"_ before eating."

Shirou let out an annoyed grunt and looked away from Dean; Tohsaka continued her lecture "And Dean please remember it next time, Shirou is easily annoyed by such things."

"Okay, I'm sowwy, Itadakmasu." He said with full mouth and returned to his food.

"You are supposed to say it before eating." Shirou complained frustrated.

The rest of the breakfast continued without further interruptions, except from Dean's grunts in his effort to eat the rice with chopsticks. Shirou got mad at Dean spilling his food all over the floor like a baby and he brought him a spoon so he could eat normally.

After they have eaten Dean asked Shirou "Do you happen to have coffee? The food was quite tasty, but if I don't drink coffee in the morning. I can't function correctly for the rest of the day."  
He stretched his arms above his head.

"Sorry dude, we have no coffee here." Shirou replied in a rather rude tone.

"Really?! How do you keep yourself awake without drinking coffee in the morning?" Dean asked surprised.

"Look, we have tea, if you don't like it, go buy coffee from outside, good luck finding money."  
Even though Shirou was normally understanding with his quests; he was being rude with Dean. His behavior just annoyed him.

"Pff…. what a grumpy person. You could have simply said "_no". _"

Shirou glared at him, but Dean continued his rumbling. "So Shirou, I couldn't help, but notice that this house is pretty big. Do you live here alone?"

Shirou turned his gaze away from Dean. "No I don't" he stated and he headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes hurryingly.

Dean tilted his head "You live with Rin then? I mean are you a couple?"

"Hell no! There is no way that…." Shirou shouted.

"Hey, I'm here thank you!" Tohsaka interjected.

"You are not a very talkative person you know. You act strangely when I ask you things and overreact at unimportant stuff."

Shirou barked "Overreact? Really?!" He dropped the dish he was holding at his hands; it fell on the floor and was smashed to bits.  
"In case you haven't understood already, we're at war. From now on we are going to risk our lives fighting other masters and servants. Do you have any idea, how I feel now that I have to fight in this damned war all over again?  
Do you know how I feel that Sakura is in the hospital fighting for her life as we speak?  
And as if that wasn't enough, you do everything you can to anger me even more." Shirou panted trying to catch his breath from all that yelling.

"Who is this Sakura? Why is she in hospital?"

Shirou didn't answer Dean's question. Instead he walked outside to the courtyard with a sad face which Dean couldn't help but notice. Dean observed him confused and looked over at Tohsaka for an answer.

"Did I say something inappropriate?"

Tohsaka calmly explained him the situation. "No it is not your fault Dean. You see, Sakura is Shirou's girlfriend; they live together for some years now. And as I have been told Shirou was about to pick her up for a date yesterday. But when he went to the appointed place he found out that Sakura had been brutally attacked. All of the doctors stated that she needs a heart transplant soon or else….." She made a long pause. And continued after she took a deep breath.

"Also later that night we learnt that the one who assaulted Sakura was none other than Caster; the servant you fought a few hours ago."

Dean interrupted her "Are you sure she was her?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I mean, when I fought her I barely managed to scratch her dogs. How can a human take on a monster like this and still survive, even gravely wounded."

"There is more to Sakura than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story, but to sum it up. It is because Sakura has vast amounts of magical energy inside her body that protect her. So I'm guessing even if the monster left her to die, her magical energy saved her from certain death. Unfortunately magical power alone cannot heal wounds; it can only be used instinctively by the body to prevent its organs from harm."

"I see, thanks for telling me Rin" Dean stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I have some things that…that I have to discuss with Shirou." He stepped out of the living room to the courtyard. Shirou was just standing near the shed gazing at the morning sky. He approached him and said.

"Hey Shirou" He greeted him by waving his hand. "Rin explained me the situation. She told me all about your girlfriend. And now I think that I understand your feelings. You are upset, because of what happened to Sakura. And all of the thing that happened afterwards brought you even more stress and tension.  
Look I'm sorry for being a jerk before. I was acting like this because….hmm…mostly because of the way you acted which made you look like a jerk and because...  
that's how I usually act…" he scratched his head awkwardly.  
"But what Rin told me made me realize I was an idiot. I judged you hastily, without even knowing what you were going through. I'm sorry I don't know what else I should say." Dean wasn't used to apologizing so that was the best he could come up with in such a short time.

Shirou recognized his effort and he felt the need to apologize to him as well "Yeah, it is true that you were acting like a douche before, but I don't really blame you; since you didn't know what was going on. Also what you said is true; what happened to Sakura really affected me and I was acting out of character. I'm sorry for not informing you earlier and I'm sorry for being such a rude host."

"It's ok, I understand you had it rough, I had to deal with similar situations in the past."

With that they shook hands, Dean smiled and reassured him "Just so you know from now on, you can trust me with anything. I'm the servant you summoned and it is my duty to assist you. So from now on I want you to be honest with me and tell me everything that may trouble you. Again I'm sorry about before and don't worry, I'm sure Sakura will be okay."

"I hope so too. Now shall we go back inside? I still have to clean up the mess you made with the rice." Shirou joked.

"Oh shut up already. I told you, I haven't eaten with chopsticks in ages. Besides you broke a plate as well so you could say, we're even."

Having finished the breakfast and cleaned the kitchen, Shirou informed Dean and Tohsaka. "You two get ready, we will be leaving soon for the hospital soon. Grab your stuff and meet me outside at my car." He proceeded to grab the car keys from the bowl beside the front door.

Dean hesitated for a moment, Shirou noticed it and asked him "What is it Dean?"

"Well, you know since I'm of the rider's class and all….!" Shirou turned around and looked him with curiosity. "Do you mind if we use my own car to the hospital? I really want to take my car out for a test drive. I mean it will be my first time driving a magical car; I want to see if it is the same as the original."

Shirou pondered for a moment and replied. "Ok, no problem with me what about you Tohsaka...HEY…., Tohsaka, wake up!"

Tohsaka who was lost in her thoughts realized she was being called. "Hmm…sorry I was thinking about something. Yeah no problem by me."

* * *

As they entered Dean's car; Tohsaka made an observation about it.

"Isn't that a Chevrolet Impala made in 1967?" She then fully explained all of Dean's car details.

Dean and Shirou were astonished by her vast knowledge of the car; each one for a different reason. "It is the first time, I meet someone who knows the details of my car as well as I do. Not even my brother knew all of these details; not until I taught him how to fix the engine. How do you even know all of it? Are you into vintage cars?"

Shirou added "Yeah Tohsaka, the only things I have seen you explain so eloquently were things that have to do with magic. Since when did you know about cars? I thought you were terrible with anything that has to do with technology"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me. I learnt about this car, because some acquaintances whom I've cooperated in the past happened to have the same and they told me all about it."

Dean started the engine. It made a roaring sound.

"WOW! It sounds exactly like the real one." Dean noticed enthusiastically. He hit the throttle and they started moving.

As they were crossing the bridge which connected the old Fuyuki city area with the modern one Shirou asked Dean.

"So…Dean, you said earlier that you will explain your circumstances at the breakfast. We never had that chance. It is not like I'm forcing you to talk about it, only if you don't have a problem with it."

Dean sighed "I suppose, I told you so. It is nothing special though, but I shall tell you. You see my real name is Dean Winchester and I died last week."

"W-What**? Last week!**" shouted Shirou "Can you even become a Heroic Spirit in such a short amount of time? And what did you do that made you turn into a Heroic Spirit after death?"

"Easy now…" Dean sighed, took a deep breath and continued "First things first, for starters I was stabbed in the stomach and I believe I died from blood loss in my brother's arms. I don't really remember my moment of death, I was really dizzy. As for the second part…well…I wasn't exactly chosen as a Heroic Spirit, more like I forced myself to become one in order to escape slavery."

Tohsaka who was staring outside the window indifferently all this time; took interest in Dean's last words and asked "What do you mean "_escape slavery"_? I thought that after death, your soul goes to either in heaven or hell? Can someone trap your soul somewhere?"

"What you say is mostly correct. Most of people, they either go to heaven or hell, or they stay down and become ghosts. Hunting ghosts, demons and monsters was my job when I was alive." Dean explained her.

"Wow! Why would you chose a life like that?" Shirou interrupted him.

"It wasn't a matter of choice more like a family tradition. You see I grew up watching my dad killing monsters and ghosts. So I decided to be like him and save people. Of course before saving all these people; I had to take care of my family, my little brother specifically."

"I see! I can relate to you as a matter of a fact, and for the same reason too. My father had similar ideals and he wanted to help people; that's why when I was a kid I kept saying that I wanted to become a superhero and save people like my father did." He took a small breath.  
"But unlike you, who always took care of your family first and then others. I unfortunately learnt that lesson the hard way!  
And that day, I made a promise with myself; that I can't save everyone and that I will have to choose between my loved ones or the rest of the world. I chose my family and friends, but yesterday's event made me realize that I'm still too weak to even protect the people I care about. " Shirou clenched his fist in anger.

"Hey cut it out! Sakura getting hurt was not your fault. Stop blaming yourself. You couldn't have known that there was a monster lurking around attacking people indiscriminately. If you are blaming yourself for not being able to take revenge on it; consider the following:  
**"****I couldn't kill it! And I'm both a professional monster hunter and a servant with superhuman powers"**

"Thanks for the support Dean!" Dean's words made him feel better.

"Hey all in a servant's duties." Dean replied cheerfully.

Shirou continued "Though…. I'm not sure if Caster attacks people indiscriminately. When she appeared in my courtyard she reported that she's looking for a master. But at the time only I and Tohsaka were inside the house, so I can't understand why she said that she sensed a master."

"Maybe there was a master nearby and when she sensed him; he was probably close to your house that's why she thought the signal came from your house." Dean made a guess.

Tohsaka who overheard their conversation spoke "Not quite right, but close guess."

"What do you mean Tohsaka?" Shirou asked.

"I believe that the master who was after, sensed her coming after him; he probably left the scene leaving behind a trace of his magical energy so that he would lead her off track."

"So what you are saying is that he cast a spell or something near my house and then he covered his presence leaving behind only the traces of his last spell, so that Caster would think that he was hiding there?"

"Even though I don't agree to his idea of involving other people in his business; I gotta say that this was a very well thought escape plan." Dean stated.

"Indeed, but you know that if normal people lived there, they would probably be dead by now; Caster would have killed them as soon as she realized she had been tricked." Shirou added.

For a moment, silence ensued inside the car, each one of them was lost in his own thoughts. Dean broke the silence by saying  
"I see, but enough with sad stories. I think it is better to continue with my reason of existence as a Heroic spirit." He paused awaiting for their response.

"Yeah, better do that, no reason stressing over these kind of things now" Tohsaka replied.

Dean cleared his throat "As I said before I kill ghosts, demons and monsters as a job; you can't really call it a job though since no one pays us. Nevertheless me and my brother always managed to take care of ourselves.  
But it is not as simple as it sounds. Sometimes shit happens and hunters die during jobs. When a hunter dies, it is common that you burn him along with all of his close personal belonging, so he can't turn into a ghost." Dean paused for a moment and Shirou asked him.

"So, the people who burned your body didn't burn you completely or they didn't burn all of your personal belongings right? That's why you returned as a spirit."

Dean replied "No that is not the case. My brother did a perfect job at burning my stuff and my body when I died. But he didn't know about one last thing that I had given to someone else. And that was the main reason I was revived as a Heroic spirit. It was my own fault to begin with for letting that bastard hold unto this thing." Dean's face started showing signs of anger.

"So who was that man? And what did you gave him?" Tohsaka who was silent all this time spoke.

"Not a **man**, **demon! **Specifically the king of hell himself."

"WHAT…?" said Shirou and Tohsaka in one voice.

"I had given him one of my knives, it was during a time when we were cooperating to kill a common enemy. It wasn't my favorite knife, that one got burned with me, but still the one I gave him must have held a tiny piece of my soul inside."

"Sharing your weapons with an enemy and letting him hold unto it after the battle was a pretty stupid and reckless move on your part. I had you for a more careful person Dean" Tohsaka remarked.

"I know it was really stupid to give him something and forget to take it back. But I never knew that magic like the one he used in order to revive me, even existed."

"So wait…. Just to set things straight, not only you know who the king of hell is; you work with him and even give him your stuff?" Shirou asked him surprised.

"It is not that simple, there is a long story between us, he helped us in the past and we helped him now, you know how the famous saying goes: _"The enemy of my enemy is my ally"_ "

"Yeah….but with the king of Hell? Even I know that dealing with demons is bad news. And I'm not a hunter like you or a professional magus like Tohsaka"

"Anyway no point arguing about that jerk." Tohsaka interrupted them "How did that demon chain you and how did you free yourself?"

"I was getting to that. He combined ancient magic with strong demon mojo and unfortunately he managed to turn me into his demon bitch. I was literally at his beck and call." He took some short breathes in order to suppress his anger and continued.

"I tried resisting him at first, but it turned out to be futile. Every time I did so I was overrun by an intense pain that paralyzed my entire body. So I decided to lay low, until I could find a way to free myself."

"And what did you do?" Tohsaka inquired curiously for an answer.

"I decided to exploit his desire for power. Soon after I made a research about the spell which he cast on my soul, I found out that, it was one rare spell used to permanently impose the command seal's power unto your servant. I was technically a demon and a servant." Shirou interrupted him.

"Wait, does a spell like this even exist?" He looked over at Tohsaka.

"I suppose it does. It is my first time hearing about it too though!  
The commands seals are supposed to be limited so the master won't use them recklessly. If someone could make his servant do everything he wanted and exploit the power of command seals which empower the servant, when they are used, he would be unstoppable." Tohsaka explained him troubled.

Dean continued his story "After learning that, I decided to study about the Holy Grail war. And I found out that such a spell could only be broken if the one who cast it, would perform the ritual to summon another servant. Then the previous servant's spirit would be relieved from his duty, though it would be forced to become a Heroic spirit, even if it wasn't a Heroic spirit before; and fight for eternity."

"And even though the cost of freedom was eternal fighting, you decided to go for it?" Tohsaka asked.

Dean sighed "At that moment all I cared was to break free from that bastard's spell."

"I'm guessing, you tricked him into summoning a new servant. And that idiot bought it" Tohsaka chuckled.

"Exactly, I presented him with details about the Fuyuki city and the previous wars that took place here; I managed to convince him that a war for power would soon break out and that he must enter it. I never really knew that a war was really going to happen though. We came here in Japan together and he summoned a servant. The moment he started materializing, I broke free and dissipated and then the next thing I saw was Shirou when he summoned."

Shirou thought about Dean's story for a few moments and he asked him "So your goal now is to stop him, right?"

"Exactly, I don't know where that bastard is, but I'm sure he is still in town. I will find and kill him for all the suffering and humiliation he made me suffer. And also for some things he has done when I was still alive. It is time he paid for his actions." Dean's hands which were holding the wheel were shaking in anger.

"Ok, ok. We'll help you get your revenge, but we won't be able to if you kill us in a car accident" Tohsaka said.

Dean calmed down upon hearing Tohsaka; she was right he wasn't paying attention to the road earlier. "Anyway, that was my story, I still have many more things to tell you about my life, fun things too, but it will have to wait for another time."

**Notes  
1)Mrs Chang is a reference to Chang'e the goddess of the moon from Chinese mythology, she is also a goddess in Smite and has a pet rabbit for carrying items. Being one of my mains in Smite; I couldn't leave her out of this.  
2)As for the knife Dean is referring to; that thing never really happened as far as I remember, but since this is a fanfiction, all's well.  
3) Exams are starting next week so there won't be an update for a while.**


	13. Calm after the storm

"So Shirou….can I ask you something that just occurred to me." Dean muttered.

"Sure" Shirou answered willingly.

Dean stood straight on his car seat and spoke in a rather weird tone. "We're in Japan right?"

"Yeah…so?"

"You speak japanese right?"

"Yeah…?"

"I'm from Kansas."

"Where are you going with this Dean?" Shirou asked him, annoyed at the slow pace of the conversation.

"Then why the hell I can understand everything you say in japanese, when I can only speak English?"

Dean's question surprised Shirou "Wait, you mean you don't know?"

"Know what? That all of a sudden I can understand and speak japanese like a native."

"I thought you knew the reason. Moreover if you didn't know a single japanese word didn't it occur to you how was it possible to communicate with a native Japanese?"

"Anyway, will you make me the honor and enlighten me?"

Shirou cleared his throat and started talking "The reason for all of this is the Holy Grail. You see because a lot of Heroic Spirits speak ancient languages, in order to communicate with their masters, the Holy Grail uses a magic so that whatever word the Heroic Spirit says, it is automatically translated into the surrounding people's native language."

"WOW, that's incredible, you mean if I say _good morning _to three people who speak different languages, they will all understand what I'm saying in their native language?"

"Exactly" Shirou said giving him a thumb up. "and the same goes the other way around. If someone speaks to you in his own language, you are will hear his words in your native language. This magic affects the masters as well so they can communicate between them even if they speak different languages."

"Even though I generally dislike magic, because I had bad experiences with many witches. I must admit this magic is pretty neat!"

Shirou nodded his head in agreement "Yes it is. You see magic is neither good nor bad, it all comes down to the person who uses it, just like a sword or a gun. It's only a tool."

"I don't know if I agree with that, but it's a long conversation which we shouldn't have now. Besides I think we're here. Isn't that the hospital?"

"Yes it is, now turn left there and enter the parking"

Dean did as Shirou told him, entered the hospital's parking, found an empty seat and parked his car. They all stepped out and headed for the hospital's entrance. They crossed the automatic doors and approached the reception desk. Shirou addressed at the employee in charge.

"Excuse me. My name is Emiya Shirou. I came to see Tohsaka Sakura, we brought her here yesterday; she must still be in the emergencies room."

The man at the desk typed something at his computer and replied "Oh I see, she is the one who got attacked by that wild animal yesterday. Yeah, she's still in the emergencies. She hasn't woken up yet thought. You can go see her, but please be discreet."

"Don't worry about that." Shirou reassured the receptionist.

They went further inside and reached Sakura's room after a while. They found Rider outside. She was sitting in a straight position, legs crossed and hands placed on her knee. She seemed lost in thoughts.

_"__Wow she is beautiful, wonder who she is?"_ was Dean's first thought when she saw her.

Rider noticed their presence and immediately stood on her feet and looked at Dean with hostility.

"Good morn…." Shirou tried to greet her by she stopped him and demanded for answers in a serious tone.

"Who is that man Shirou? He is not human as far as I can tell. He is emanating a power similar to mine. If I didn't know better I would say, he is servant."

Dean immediately realized that he was not welcome, the moment Rider gave him an icy cold glare. He felt a chill going down his spine; even though it was only for a moment Dean thought that something was abnormal with that woman in front of him.  
He decided to ignore that feeling and speak up.  
"Wait, wait you got it all wrong. I am not an enemy. It true what you said though; I'm not a human, but a servant.  
My name is Dean and Shirou summoned me last night, when he was under attack-"

"Attack?!" Rider shouted angry.

But Dean was unfazed from her reaction and continued calmly as if never happened. "Yes, he and Rin over there were attacked by the same servant hat attacked Sakura. There is no need to be afraid of me though, I mean no harm at all."  
He tried to calm her down but with little success as Rider completely ignored him, focusing her attention at Shirou.

"What is he talking about Shirou? Servant?! Attack?! What the hell happened last night when you left?"

Shirou gulped as he looked Rider straight in her bright amethyst eyes. He understood that it was meaningless trying to hide yesterday's event from Rider so he started explaining her the situation.  
"Well….you see Rider, last night when we returned at my place, we were attacked, by the same thing that targeted Sakura; she was a servant obviously, Caster class to be precise. She admitted herself that she was the one to attack Sakura. And Tohsaka suggested to summon a servant, either her or me and….." Rider cut him short.

She turned to face Tohsaka and yelled at her as well "Why would you ever do something like that Rin? Why would you force Shirou to become a master again? Especially now when he was about to settle down with Sakura." Shirou opened his mouth to talk, but his voice was covered by Rider's.  
"Why didn't you become a master yourself? You are the one who's working at the clock tower not him. It's your job to deal with magical messes not his.  
Have you ever considered Sakura's feelings about Shirou entering that stupid war? If something was to happen to him she would be devastated."

Rider was mad at Tohsaka, because as she said; she is the one working at the clock tower in London; meaning that she is paid to deal with such kind of messes. Yet she let Shirou become a master even though, she knew that all Shirou ever wanted was to have a happy normal life with Sakura. She also thought that Tohsaka was ignoring Sakura's feeling about Shirou. If Shirou was to lose his life at the war, Sakura would be mentally wrecked. As her servant Rider was concerned for both the physical and the mental health of her master. Yet she didn't know all of the details; that's why her outburst wasn't completely justified.

Tohsaka looked at her emotionlessly and after a while she opened her mouth and spoke with harsh words "If I hadn't done so, neither of us would be here to get yelled by you!  
Shirou would have ended up as dog food, if I was the one to summon a servant. Also before opening your mouth to accuse me. Think about this, which one between me and Shirou would have been able to stall a monster that powerful longer for the other one to perform the summoning?"

The atmosphere between them was growing heavier by the second. Shirou knew that both of them could be really scary if they wanted to; that's what frightened him the most; a battle among them was the last thing that they needed now. Dean was observing them silently waiting for them to finish their argument. But Shirou was growing impatient and he didn't want this meaningless fight to continue any longer. He decided that it was time to break it off.  
"Stop it! Both of you!" He shouted at Tohsaka and Rider.

They both turned their heads, giving him a scary look which was like telling him _"Don't meddle in our business"_  
He had gone too far to turn back now though; he took a deep breath and started scolding them both "Are you two serious? Fighting over something like that? Now of all times? Now when Sakura is like that. You should be ashamed!  
Firstly Rider, what Tohsaka told you was true, our enemy was terrifying and only she could stall her long enough so I could perform the ritual. And even though I did as fast as I could, when I arrived with Dean she was at her limit. Imagine if someone like me tried to take this kind of enemy on. I wouldn't have lasted a mere minute."

Tohsaka gave her a look _"I told you so"_, Shirou addressed at Tohsaka next. "And you Tohsaka, you may be right about the whole situation, but the way you explained it was plain rude. You could have said it more politely and then none of this would have happened. Be more careful about it from now on for all of our sakes. Distress among us is the last thing we want now."

Shirou let out a huge sigh and touched his forehead in frustration "Look guys I know you both had it rough. Rider, I know what you are thinking, you feel guilty and angry with yourself, because you couldn't protect Sakura, but you mustn't let that anger, take over your reason" He made a slight pause.  
"As for you Tohsaka, more than anyone I know that you can be really annoying from time to time; yet I understand that you must be feeling upset about Sakura, but try to be more considerate about the feelings of other people. We all feel bad about what happened to Sakura, but right now all we can do is wait."

Rider shook unwillingly her head in agreement at Shirou's words and returned to her seat quietly on contrast with Tohsaka who suddenly snapped.  
"You! All of you" She pointed each one of people around "you can do whatever you want, I'm leaving. I'm not going to stand idle and wait for a miracle to happen. I'm going to find a way to help Sakura on my own. I'm leaving for my house.  
Do not call me, you hear!" She turned her back and left in a hurry, not even saying goodbye.

They all stood there dumbfounded without saying anything and watched as she left.

Shirou clicked his tongue "Tsk...damn that Tohsaka!  
Why is she acting so stubborn now of all times?  
What does she think she can do all alone?"

"You mean, she is not always like this?" Dean asked Shirou.

"She is a pain in the ass sometimes, but she would never do something as irresponsible as leaving like this out of the blue." Shirou explained.

Dean rubbed his chin and said "Hmmm…well she said she is going to go find a way to help. So maybe it is not completely irrational what she does."

"I know, I get that part. I was just surprised to see her like this. It was out of her normal character. She is usually calm and composed like she was at the house"

Dean shrugged his shoulders in ignorance "You know her better than I do."

"Anyway, I wonder though where she will go, her house is considered a crime scene and there is no way to let her in. A hotel maybe?"

After Tohsaka's departure the attention bounced back to Dean. Rider began her interrogation "So you are a servant hmm…? What class?" Rider asked while she was measuring Dean with her eyes.

"Rider. Is there a problem with it?" Dean was determined not to let her get the better of him, but he also didn't want to cause anymore fighting, so he tried to be as polite as he could.

"Rider huh? Interesting! You must be quite strong since you managed to defend against that thing yesterday. Don't get cocky though. Shirou trusts you with his life and Shirou's life is important not only to himself, but to other people as well, especially Sakura. Protect him with your life." She declared with a strong voice.

Shirou for a brief moment thought Rider was going to petrify Dean, the way she was staring directly into his eyes like this. It made him feel nervous that his servant may accidentally end up as a stone statue. He knew firsthand how terrifying her Noble Phantasm was; it could petrify almost anyone instantly.

"Ehmm… Rider I think that it is enough, he is an ally no need to be so intense." He said in an effort to lighten the mood, but they both ignored him.

Dean waited undaunted for Rider to finish her inspection. She was observing him really carefully, trying to find a weakness, but without success Dean stood firm. Half a minute of total silence and intense stares passed then Rider spoke.

"Ok, I think I've seen enough." And she offered her hand to Dean.

Dean offered his hand to her as well and with a smile on his face as he introduced himself "I'm glad, you think so. Nice to meet you name's Dean."

Rider introduced herself too and told him "Most people I've looked this way, couldn't keep their eyes on me for more than ten seconds. But you are different. You are strong both physically and mentally. Shirou is lucky to have a servant like you. You can call me Rider, I am servant like you, rider class too."

These words took Dean by surprise. He sensed that something was off with her; but he never expected her to be a servant, rider class too. "You are a servant ! But…how? Rider too. I thought only one servant class was allowed per time."

"I'm a servant from the previous Holy Grail war. Specifically I was and I still am Sakura's servant. It is thanks to her that I manage to stay alive and keep my physical form."

Dean scratched his head puzzled "But aren't servants supposed to vanish into thin air when the war ends?

"Yeah, that is usually true, but various things happened and I managed to stay back. I may tell you the whole story when we have time."

"I see, that's good and all. But there is something else I noticed and I wanted to ask you." Rider gestured him to continue "You said that your name is Rider, is that your real name, or your class name?"

Rider smiled mildly. _"Wow, she is even more beautiful, when she smiles."_ Dean thought.

"Of course it is my class name, have you seen many people being called like that?" She answered jokingly.

"But why? Why would you choose a name that reminds you of that war?"

Suddenly, she got serious again "Because my real name is that of a monster according to human mythology, so I prefer to be called Rider than that of a monster."

_"__Monster!? That was unexpected"_ he thought and apologized to her.  
"I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to. I won't force you to tell me, if you don't want to."

"No offense taken, just call me Rider like everyone else does."

Shirou who was standing next to Dean all this time, was waiting for them to finish their introduction. When they were done his words were directed at Rider.

"So Rider, how is Sakura? Has anything happened?"

"No Shirou, no change at all. She is in the condition you left her yesterday. Also I didn't feel any threats or seen anyone suspicious nearby?"

"I see. Let's hope nothing bad happens and that a transplant will be found soon. I'm going to find the doctor to ask him for any further news. I'll be back in a while." Shirou said and left for the doctor's office.  
Several minutes passed without much things happening. Dean and Rider made some small talk before they fell silent again. Dean was unusually silent, taking in account that he was standing next to a gorgeous woman like her.

Shirou came back after a while without any news from the doctors. So, they decided to have a meeting as to what to do next.

"I'm not moving from here until Sakura is ok. Caster may attack again after all." Rider stated firmly and they both agreed with her.

Dean made a suggestion "I think that Shirou and I should go gather some info on her. That's our only viable option now. Standing here doing nothing won't help Sakura get better; also if someone as dangerous as that thing roams the town; it is best to take care of it soon, before more innocent people are involved. What do you say Shirou?"

"Yeah you are right. But how are we going to do that? There is no public library in Fuyuki and our only option is Tohsaka's personal library, but I doubt she will welcome us."

"Who said anything about library, we have all the info we need about monsters in here." He said as he pulled out from his inner pocket a thick journal, with a black leather cover.

"What is this book?" Shirou asked intrigued.

"You will see later, for now let's return home so we can study without any interruptions."

"Ok, let's go back then. Rider we're leaving please take care of Sakura for us."

"Sorry for not staying to keep you company Rider, but job comes first. We'll talk again soon...over a beer, hopefully. See you later and take care."

Rider smiled at him and waved her hand at both of them, as they were leaving.  
While they were heading to the car Dean asked Shirou in an awkward voice "Hey Shirou, can I ask you something about Rider?"

"She already told you that she doesn't want her true name to be known, I can't go against her wish."

"No, no it isn't about that. There is something else I want to know."

"Hmm what is it?" Shirou tilted his head confused.

"Firstly I want you to know that this isn't like me; I never had that kind of problem, but I don't know what happened when I met Rider. I just want to know if she's seeing someone."

Shirou's eyes widened; he thought about it for a while then he replied in a joking tone " You must be a special case of a Heroic spirit to ask me questions like that. But no, I haven't heard anything as far as I know she's single. Most men whom she meets are intimidated by her presence and end up messing their words in front of her. I'm used to her and I also have Sakura so I have no problem talking to her casually. I was surprised you didn't bite your tongue like most people."

Dean grunted as he was being mocked by someone almost a decade younger than him and with far less experience with women obviously "Yeah smart ass. Watch me. When this is all over, I will make her fall for me in no time. I would do it now, but job comes first." He firmly stated and puffed out his chest.

"Yeah, yeah good luck with that." Shirou chuckled.

* * *

**A lot of hours later, **

"That's it! I've had enough! If I see another monster image or read another _"how to kill it" _explanation, I will puke." Shirou shouted frustrated since their long hour research was a total bust.

Dean was surprisingly calm even though they have wasted several hours for nothing "Hey calm down, I know our research was a failure, but there is no reason to get mad now. We'll call Rin tomorrow and ask her if we can use her library. I'm sure she will be calmer tomorrow."

"Ok, ok I get it, I'll call Tohsaka tomorrow and ask her. Still I admit your father's journal is something else, even though we didn't' find what we wanted to. Did he write it all by himself?"

Dean looked at his father's memento nostalgically. "Yeah most of it. During his hunting days, he kept notes for every kind of ghost or monster he hunted. This little book had helped me and my brother during our hunts more times than I can remember.  
Anyway we have been working for hours and we hadn't had any food since morning, I suggest we eat something. What do you say?

Shirou looked at the clock hanging from the wall. It was almost midnight and they were working nonstop since early noon. All they had eaten was breakfast. Shirou even though he didn't want to admit it; his stomach's growling was betraying his hunger.

"Ok, you are right. I will go prepare something for the two of us." He stood up and headed for the kitchen when Dean's voice interrupted him.

"Whosaid anything about cooking?" Shirou turned around and saw Dean smirking.

So they took Dean's car and went for burgers, which according to Dean was the best meal after a long day of work. A double bacon cheeseburger and a beer were more than enough to make him happy. After they had their food and drinks they went back into the car and started driving back. It was a little after 1:00 am when they left the burger shop.

They were taking a different, longer road back home, because Dean wanted to test out the horsepower of his new magical car. That other road was completely empty at that time and they weren't many houses is the surrounding area. A perfect place to run wild with his car to his heart content without disturbing any people and without the fear of crashing. Shirou was reluctant at Dean's idea at first, but Dean convinced him eventually. His strongest argument was that:

_"__Now that my car is magical there may be more things that it can do. Testing it out when I have the chance is a good way to find out all of its secrets."_

While driving through the empty road at maximum speed. Dean suddenly hit the brake, brng the car into a forceful stop; thankfully for Shirou, he was wearing his seat belt.

"What the hell Dean? You nearly killed us…?" But his remark was ignored. As Dean stepped out of the car and started inspecting their surroundings; Shirou noticed that he had materialized his machette in his right hand.

"Stay inside and keep the engine running, no matter what. There's something dangerous nearby." Dean shouted at Shirou.

Shirou got his head outside of the window "What is it? Another Servant? Caster again?" He shouted.

Dean halted his advance and while examining the area around him replied "I'm not sure if it is the monster girl from yesterday, but its power is close to it. No, maybe even higher. Stay vigilant." He said as he was scouting the area around him." At least there are no people nearby and no houses so there won't be any casualties" Dean thought, but that was of small importance if they were killed tonight.

Suddenly, black clouds began gathering above them.  
"Oh no! This is seriously bad!" Shirou mumbled to himself; when he saw the scenery outside; he immediately did as Dean instructed him. He switched to the driver's seat and turned on the engine.

Meanwhile the black clouds above them were so thick now that the moonlight couldn't pass through. Their only source of light were the street lamps, but that too was too dim to be of any help. Not for for long though, all of a sudden lightnings started flashing inside the clouds, showering the area with light in between random intervals. And as if that was not enough finally heavy rain broke out.

"Watch out!" yelled Shirou from inside the car.

Dean as soon as heard those words; he instinctively jumped to the side.

_"__THUMP" _Something large landed on Dean's previous location; the sound of the ground shattering echoed in their ears.

He turned around to see what was behind him; he froze in place "Woah…?! What the hell is that?" He couldn't believe his eyes; he just simply stood there, staring at what fell from the sky.

"What the hell is that thing?" Shirou asked as he stepped out of the car.

"I think it is an axe. A freakishly enormous weird axe. But an axe nonetheless. Someone must be compensating for something if he uses a weapon as big as that."

"Only one type of class could yield such a weapon." Shirou suddenly recalled everything that happened in the previous Holy Grail war.  
"Berserker..." He uttered in fear.

"Berserker? Yeah it makes sense." Dean agreed.

"But if that's the case, we're screwed; there is no way to you can take on Berserker alone Dean, you can't. He is the most powerful servant and the only one who can possibly stand a chance alone against him is probably a saber class servant. There is practically no way, you can defeat Berserker in an one on one battle. Even two versus one would be difficult. I suggest we flee for now." Shirou said, prompting him to get inside the car and get out of here.

Dean didn't move an inch, he just stood there as the rain was dropping heavily on him. His shoes were dirtied with mud and his clothes were soaked.

"Come on what are you waiting for? We need to leave, now!"

"We are not leaving, until I get to see, with what we're dealing with. I won't fight him to death; I just want to measure his potential. I'm no stupid, but I won't let that chance slip away. It is a perfect opportunity to gauge our opponent's strength. Keep the engine on. And we're leaving when I tell you." Dean looked like he wasn't going to accept objections, but Shirou insisted.

"There's nothing to see here, dumbass. Berserker is nothing like the Caster you faced yesterday; he's on a complete different level. Common logic doesn't apply for Berserker. Berserker is literraly a monster; no even worse, A Berserker won't stop at nothing until he kills his target, even if it means his own death. Pain does not stop him, it only make him angrier and stronger."

Shirou's effort to convince Dean was futile though. Dean wasn't listening; he was determined to do as he was seeing fit. Suddenly, a purple lightning shone the dark sky and in the exact same moment a giant appeared to the axe's position, grabbing it and spinning it around himself, causing a cyclone of destruction which tore down the nearby trees; fortunately Dean and Shirou were left unhurt, taking cover behind the car. The giant noticed Dean's presence, an enemy was nearby, that's what his primitive insticts and servant status was_ telling_ him. So, driven by blind rage Berserker roared ferociously and charged at him with his enormous axe at hand.

Immediately Dean shoved Shirou aside and tried to lure Berserker as far as possible from Shirou. He was still trying to come in terms with what he was up against. That monster girl yesterday was something else, but that Berserker was simply monstrous. He realized that it was a mistake for not listening to Shirou's words; but it was too late for regrets now. He had to fight for his life now. If not for himself at least for Shirou's; even at the cost of his own life; he had made a promise with Rider after all and also, his own nature could not let him abandon an innocent when faced with danger. With his resolve made up; Dean prepared himself for the upcoming fight.

Purple lightning flashed inside the dark clouds once again, lighting the area momentarily. That brief time was enough for Dean to notice Berserker's extraordinary appearance. He looked like a tribal warrior, like those he has seen in movies that were about lost Meso-American civilizations like the Mayans, the Aztecs and the Zulus.

His skin was brown, tanned from the sun. His eyes were bright white, sparkling with small lightnings. He wore two giant shoulder pads while the rest of his upper body was covered with cyan and mauve body paint including his face. He wore a dark blue leather skirt which was reinforced with bamboo sticks. And lastly he was wearing a strange bucket-like green helmet decorated with a purple gem in the middle.  
His weapon, the axe that he previously threw at Dean was even more magnificent now that Dean saw it clearer. It had a serpentine head design carved on it and five purple gems socketed in the blunt side of its blade. The axe's handle was made out of a thick wooden log which had been painted yellow, while the blade itself was green with trims of yellow. Dean also noticed that the giant had a relatively small wooden shield strapped in his left hand.

The giant slashed horizontally aiming for Dean's head; Dean read his move and ducked as the enormous axe passed right above him. He rolled back and took out his gun. He had already realized that trying to beat that thing in close combat was impossible for him. Also all that mud that was created by the rain was severely reducing his agility, which was his strong point. So a ranged combat was all he could afford against that giant. The giant saw him retreat and chased after him. Unlike Dean, the giant had no trouble moving through the mud effortlessly, barefoot even. The strangest thing was that all the road was full of sticky mud even though the rain fell on dry asphalt; it was as if the rain itself was dissolving the asphalt and then was getting mixed up with the dirt.

Dean saw the giant charging with his axe at hand, he remained steady, took aim and shot him six bullets at him, two at his head, three at its heart and one at it neck. But it was to no avail, they didn't even graze him, he kept running towards him like an unstoppable force of natue.

"What the hell? He deflected them as if they were made from paper." Dean clicked his tongue again retreated furter aways in order to keep his distance from the giant.

He kept running and shooting him, but without success not even a single wound. He decided to run outside this thunderstorm since the mud was limiting his speed and so he started running away from the dark clouds. The giant saw him and immediately threw his axe at his position. He barely managed to dodge it, ducking as the axe flew right over his head. The axe landed a few meters away from him. He started running again.  
But then, a purple lightning flashed again and the giant who was far behind him a moment ago was standing right in front of him. He immediately regretted his decision not to turn around the moment he dodged the axe. He had the chance to approach the giant and slash him with his machete while he was unarmed, but now it was too late; he couldn't run away. The giant grabbed him by his neck, if he was a human, his neck would have snapped immediately; it was thanks to his servant power that he was managing to stay alive. The giant further pressed his hold around Dean's neck and Dean was ready to pass out. He could no longer resist the giant's hold with his hands, all of his limbs were hanging lifelessly, as the giant was choking him to death.

"Trace on…loading weapon structure...cosntructing sequencial bonds...Eeex-CALIBUUUUUUR!" Shirou yelled with all his might, a yellow shockwave was shot from the sword Shirou was holding in his hands and it hit Berserker straight in the face.

He had replicated Saber's sword, the legendary sword, Excalibur, the weapon of king Arthur of England. Even though the world knew him as king, it was in reality a woman; Arthuria Pendragon was her name and she was his servant during the last Holy Grail war. Her sword Excalibur is famed to be one the most powerful swords ever made. And Shirou had managed over the years to replicate it almost perfectly with his powers; he never thought that a day would ever come that he would have to use it though. He knew full well how powerful the original was and even though this one was a replica, its power was not to frowned upon. A full power attack from the original Excalibur was enough to instant kill anyone servant, even a Berserker; an attack from the replica should have been enough to at least injure him seriously.

Berserker screamed in pain, as the shockwave from Excalibur burned off the skin of his face. He started swinging his arms furiously around. He threw Dean at a nearby wall, head first; Dean fainted. Shirou carefully approached him, so the giant wouldn't notice him, picked him up and carried him inside the car. Even though he was shorter than Dean his good physique allowed him to carry him without much difficulty. He strapped him in the front passenger's seat and he took the wheels, the engine was still on as Dean had asked him to do so before, so he just pressed the throttle and accelerated, but the mud was making difficult for the car to move. He then saw something that terrified him. The berserker was coming after him and not only that, his face had been completely restored as if he had never been hurt.

"Come on, come on. Move faster…..Move" He shouted frantically as Berserker was closing in the distance between them.

"P-press that red button…."Dean said in a weak voice and passed out again.

"What…..? He passed out again, it's all or nothing now, let's hope it works." Shirou pressed the button and crossed his fingers for good luck.

A loud voice came from the back of the car and then the car started moving faster and faster, until they were out of the thunderstorm and the muddy road; he released the button and drove normally. Berserker's figure was growing smaller and smaller with each second until he was completely out of sight.

"What was that button, you told me to press?" Shirou asked Dean who was lying next to him semi-conscious.

"That was a nitro" he replied still dizzy from the impact on his head.

"Nitro? Are you serious? Where did you find it?"

"Didn't I say before that this car has things that even I don't know yet? I realized it was nitro a little ago, before Berserker attacked us. Ironic isn't it? " Dean said smiling.

"Whatever…let's get home so I can treat you….."

_Phone ringing_

"Hello, who is it?" answered Shirou.

_"__Voice in phone"_

"Yes I am Emiya Shirou, what happened?"

_"__Voice in phone"_

"What?! Really?! That's great news! But how? You said-"

_"__Voice in phone"_

"I see, I'll be there first thing in the morning. Good bye and thank you again."

"Who was it?"

"Sakura's doctor."

"And….?"

"He told me that a transplant was found and they will operate her tomorrow afternoon." His face shone brightly as he reported the pleasant news.

* * *

***I gave Sakura her original surname (Tohsaka); since after the Holy Grail war the Matou family is annihilated so, it's only logical for her to use her true surname instead of the other one.**

* * *

Last time I was asked about Dean's stats as a servant, so I decided that from here on to publish the stats for each servant appearing. For now here's Dean's and Berserker's stats.

Class: Rider|True name Dean Winchester

Strength C+  
Endurance C  
Agility A  
Magical Energy D  
Luck A+  
Noble Phantasm A

Class:Berserker|True name: ? (Smite fans already know, but I'm leaving it blank, in case there are a non Smite fans who read the story.)

Strength A+  
Endurance A+  
Agility A  
Magical Energy B+  
Luck B  
Noble Phantasm A


	14. Will you send me an angel

"Castiel, what is the meaning of this?!" shouted Hannah as she pointed towards the woman who was standing next to him wearing a preposterous outfit.

"Calm down Hannah, she is a friend, I summoned her so she can help me find Dean and Sam" Said Castiel, but Hannah wasn't listening.

Moments after he had summoned Saber, Hannah had barged in Castiel's office without knocking and her shock was kind of reasonable. She saw a woman in a skimpy outfit with a sword at hand standing right next to him; anyone could misunderstand the situation. Precisely Saber was wearing a white cloth on her head which was covering the whole back side of her head and up her nose in the front. On top of the cloth she was wearing a circlet embedded with a purple gem. Even though the cloth covered most of her face features Castiel noticed two particular characteristics that made her stand out. Her black as night hair which came out below her head cloth and her red rosy lips.

"Castiel, can you please explain me who this woman is and why is she dressed like that?" Hannah trembled as she uttered those words. Saber on the other hand tilted her head in confusion.

Her tight white blouse which was only covering her breast area revealing the rest of her well-built body was one of the reasons that made Hannah freak out. She was equipped with two shoulder pads designed like angelic wings and silver bracers carved with various ancient greek designs. She was also wearing a leather warrior's skirt and a pair of silver boots up to her knee. Lastly she wore reticulated stockings which were made from very thin steel wires; another reason that caused Hannah to go on a rampage.

"Wait Hannah! It is not what you think it is." His effort to calm her down was futile, she was already beyond any reasoning.

Also Hannah couldn't help but notice the sword she was yielding and that was the yet another reason she was acting like that. The sword had a dark grey hilt which was decorated with the five purple gems; one on its grip and four around the hilt. The blade of the sword was colored dark gray with trims of purple and blue.

"Allow me Castiel, I think I can explain the situation to that woman, without any trouble." Said Saber in an emotionless tone.

"W-What?! "_That woman?!" _How dare you? I'm Castiel's assistant, you are just a stranger and you dare talk to me like that? Castiel will you allow her to talk to me like that?" Hannah shrieked and hit her leg on the marble floor in frustration.

"Ehm…actually…." Castiel was flustered and looked away awkwardly.

Saber continued. "As I understand, you must be a friend of Castiel; I believe that introducing myself to you shouldn't pose a problem to our cause or else I would have to kill you after telling you my name." The tone of her voice didn't change throughout her sentence. She calmly stated that she would kill her if she wasn't that close to Castiel.

"What? K-kill me?" she snapped, but Saber ignored her.

"As I was saying, I am a servant summoned by Castiel in order to fight for him in the upcoming Holy Grail war; it is my duty to protect him even with my life. You can call me Saber which is my servant's class' name."

"Wait-wait-wait what war? What is she talking about Castiel, I thought the war was over now that Metatron is in prison. I thought we were walking towards a peaceful era." Hannah's face was a mixture of anger, curiosity and surprise.

"Yeah, that war is over and you are free to do whatever you wish. But for me unfortunately another war lies ahead. And it is a war I have to fight alone or more specifically with Saber." Castiel tried to calm her down, but Hannah wasn't willing to listen to his excuses.

"Let me get this straight, you are abandoning us once again so you can go fight to another crazy war. And not only that, instead of asking for our help you get a total stranger who is dressed liked a _whore_ to help you." She was furious, Castiel could feel the atmosphere getting heavy.

"What is a _whore_?_"_ Saber asked curiously.

Castiel slapped his forehead in distress. "Hannah please listen to me I can't ask for your help, because where I'm going is for absolutely personal reasons, the angels haven't anything to do with this whatsoever. So please understand that, all I'm asking of you is to take care of things here as long as I'm away and don't tell anyone else. I was planning on telling you, but you came at a wrong time and you misunderstood things."

Hannah pondered for a few moments what Castiel said and then she gave her reply "Hmmm…yeah I might have overreacted a bit; but still I'm not okay with you going to war while you still haven't got back all your grace, it is really dangerous. Is there any way I can help you?"

"Just keep up the usual routine and tell the rest if they ask that I'm going for a mission that will help us rebuild heaven to its former glory and I'm going undercover because it is dangerous. If they say that they want to help, tell them that you already had this conversation with me and I refused it without a second thought." He stared at her with pleading eyes.

Hannah could not resist those eyes, especially after what had happened earlier today._  
_She blushed a little. "Ok, if that is your wish, I will fulfill it. On last thing though" and she turned her gaze at Saber ". I'm sorry for my rude behavior earlier, I was out of character and I hope you can forgive me."

"Apology accepted."

"I hope that what you said earlier about protecting Castiel with your life was true? Also you haven't told me your name, I'm Hannah Castiel's assistant. What is yours?" she asked her in her usual polite tone.

"As for your first question, you have nothing to worry Hannah Castiel's assistant. But as for the second I'm afraid I cannot give you my true name, only my **master**, Castiel may know it, even if you are his friend I can't say anything, you may betray us in a moment of weakness."  
Her voice wasn't insulting, she was just stating her opinion without a sense of emotion, but it was already too late, as Hannah snapped.

"What?! Castiel, you erotic pervert, you force her to call you **master**?! What kind of perverted language do you two use?"  
"And **you**" she pointed her index finger at Saber "What do you mean in a moment of weakness I will betray you? Do you really think of me so low?"

"I cannot say for sure, that's why I cannot entrust you with my name. You are just another angel to me after all, so I have to be careful around your kind."

_"__Who on Heaven's name is that woman anyway? Thinking so lowly of us angels? Not that we deserve more after all that happened, but still….."_  
Hannah let out a snort "Humph…. Have fun with your **master** then." She left and slammed the door with force behind her.

_ "__This woman is incredibly skilled at infuriating people. She lacks common sense. She is like us angels, no maybe even worse than us in that matter"_ Castiel thought as he took a quick glance at Saber.

"So when are we leaving for Earth Castiel?"

"Are you impatient of causing a ruckus down there as well? We're leaving now." Castiel said as he opened a portal to Earth.

"Can I ask you one last thing before we go rescue your friend?" Saber asked curiously.

"Yeah, why not? It might save from possible future misunderstandings."

"What is a _whore_ you mentioned earlier?"

"Oh man…it's going to be a looong war…." He mumbled to himself "Look, I'll explain everything you need to know on the way down, ok Nemesis?" Nemesis nodded in agreement and they walked into the portal.

* * *

**Fuyuki city, Sunday evening 23:43 pm, Fuyuki's hospital**

"They are operating Sakura for over six hours, what is taking them so long?" Asked Shirou impatient.

"Relax Shirou, you too Rider, a heart transplant isn't like an appendix removal. It requires much preparation and time. They must take care of a lot of things before proceeding with the operation. A heart's transplant requires weeks or even months of preparation, so the patient's body won't reject the transplant during the operation. Sakura was brought in two days ago, but because of her situation they decided to operate her now. So in order to prevent the worst they need extra time for preparations." Dean calmly explained to both of them who for several hours now they have been pacing up and down the hallway.

"Dean is right Shirou, we should calm down; the doctors are giving their best there. Also as long as I'm okay that means that Sakura is too, since she can still provide me with magical energy." Rider who managed to regain her cool, was talking to Shirou who was still nervous.

_"__Poor guy, it must be hell inside his mind. I can't blame him though, I and Sam were like that when one of us was in critical condition. But still we always had Cass there to help us, if we got injured; they have no one to help them like Cass did for us. Wonder where he is though? He didn't respond yesterday. Let's try now, a human life is hanging from literally a string."_ Dean stood up.

"Hmm…where are you going?"Shirou asked him.

"To make a call to a friend, he may be able to help with Sakura, I hope I can reach him though." Dean explained to Shirou who looked at him even more curious now.

Shirou tilted his head "You have a friend who can help Sakura? And you are telling me now?"

"Well... Yeah... I called him yesterday too, but he didn't respond, I hope he does now."

"But even if you reach him, when will he come? Does he live nearby?"

"In a way. I'll explain more if I manage to get him to come down" Dean said and left them.

"Down? Down from where? What are you talking about Dean? Hey don't ignore me come back." Shirou shouted at Dean who was turning at the corner of the corridor.

Dean looked around as to make sure no one was there. He stood still, lifted his head looking at the ceiling and said out loud.

"Hey Cass, it's me Dean again, where are you man? I was calling you yesterday and you didn't respond? I hope you are not having any trouble and it is just a communication problem. Anyway I'm calling you because I need your help with something, I can't ask Sam because he is unable to do something about this and also I don't want him to know I'm alive; only you can help me pal. But Cass I'm not calling you for myself; right now the one who needs your help is someone else. Please if you can hear this come to my location immediately, or else an innocent woman and many more people will probably die again." He finished his prayer to the Castiel.

He waited for a few moments expecting Castiel to show up anytime out of nowhere like he usually does and greet him. He heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Dean" Dean turned around in hope it was his friend, but it was Shirou who had caught up with him.

His smile faded immediately "Oh...It's you…what is it?" he asked indifferently.

"Yeah, I'm happy to meet you too jerk" he grimaced at Dean's tone "So what happened? Did you contact your friend?"

"Of course, but he can't come because his wings are clipped" Replied ironically.

Shirou sighed disappointed "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Forget it, let's go back to Rider." Shirou nodded in agreement to Dean's suggestion.

But when they returned back to the place they were. They had to deal with something unexpected. Rider was down on the floor, flailing around like a fish out of water and she was holding her neck with both hands.

Dean run to her place "Rider, Rider, hey what happened?" He noticed her problem "Shirou call a doctor, she cannot breath."

But Shirou was frozen in place. He couldn't move. Dean remembered Rider's words from before.

_ "'__as long as I'm okay, Sakura is too.  
That's what she said and that must be why Shirou turned white like milk when he saw her like that; he must have thought of Sakura. As much as I don't want to admit it, Rider must have been correct, I can hear panicked voices from inside the operation's room. That means that something went terribly wrong."_ Dean deduced and he was correct of course.

He looked at Rider whom he was holding at his hands. She was still trying to breathe. Dean suspected that by now, here lungs must have been hurting like crazy from the lack of oxygen. Also she seemed ready to pass out. Shirou on the other hand was still pinned in the same position, unable to neither speak nor move.

"Dammit! Cass come down here you son of bitch. Save those people. They have suffered enough, they are like us. They can't catch a break even if they try to. So please come and help them, please" He knelt with his head touching the ground in a last desperate effort to call his friend, but it was futile. Castiel wasn't answering.

Then the panicked voices from inside the operation's room couldn't be heard anymore. Silence ensued. Dean lifted his head and saw Rider who was slowly dissipating into small purple lights. She wasn't flailing anymore, but she didn't move either. Her eyes were closed and if it wasn't for her transparent figure anyone could have thought that she is sleeping peacefully.

He panicked _"She is dying, I cannot let her die, not like that, what should I do? Maybe try to use CPR on her" _

He tried pressing her chest with both his hands but to his unfortunate surprise they went right through her. Soon there would be nothing left of her. She would be gone, like she never existed in the first place. No traces at all, nothing to bury or burn, nothing. She would vanish into thin air just the way she appeared when she was summoned. That was the cruel fate that awaited each servant at the end of the Holy Grail war and they were all bound by it. Even if she tricked her fate for a while, ultimately her fate managed to find her way back to her and she was paying it back the worst possible manner. Dying like that was extremely cruel, even for a servant.

"So that is the fate that awaits me at the end of the war" Dean said to himself, he hung his head in desperation and gave up all hope. He was all alone now, his brother wasn't there to help him and Castiel ignored all of his pleas he had no one who could rely to.

About a minute had passed since Rider's figure completely disappeared from his hands. Shirou had fallen on his knees; silent with his head hanging. His eyes were hollow. He didn't move at all. He was like he had died in that position. Dean knew though that Shirou had already died internally. Dean smashed both his hands on the ground furiously and closed his eyes. It was an instinctive move out of anger. Another one person had died on his hands and he was unable to help her. Even though it wasn't his mistake; he felt responsible for some reason. He closed his eyes; hoping that all of that was just a bad dream. He remained like this for a few moments when he sensed his hands getting numb he opened his eyes, but the room was completely dark.

_"__What the hell? Power failure at this time?"_ He called Shirou "Hey Shirou, are you alright? I can't see anything. Where are you?"  
_One second,  
two seconds,  
three seconds, _  
no response. Shirou was still so shocked that he didn't even notice that the lights were out.

"Damn it! What is this weight, I'm feeling?" Dean moved his hands around in the darkness, trying to find out what was that thing he was touching. His hands traced the surface of whatever was in front of him and his hand bumped unto something soft.

"Hmm…? This feeling, it seems familiar." He immediately realized what it was that thing which he was touching. It was a human, more precisely a woman and that soft spot was her right breast. The lights then came back.

Dean was caught off guard with what he saw. "Rider! You are alive?! " Dean shouted in excitement. But she was unconscious, she didn't respond. He took his hand off her chest and checked her pulse to see if she was really alive.

Shirou came back to his senses. He realized what was going on, stood up and came to Dean's position. His eyes were red, he was crying silently all this time. Flustered he asked in a trembling voice "R-Rider is that you? A-Are you ok? If you are ok and you are really Rider then…." He looked with hope at the operation's room's door.

The door opened and a doctor came out. He was bewildered to see two of them on the floor and Shirou wiping his teary eyes. He smiled gently at them. What he said made their hearts flutter with indescribable happiness "She must have a guardian angel that protects her. Science can't explain what happened in there."

At that moment Dean lifted his head and looked at the ceiling while mumbling himself "If you ever make me beg like this again, I swear that'll…"

"Excuse me sir who are you talking to?" The doctor who overheard Dean's ranting asked him.

"Nothing, just talking to myself."

* * *

**Meanwhile at the same time in the airport at the next town.**

A flight had just arrived from America, there were few passengers, mostly regular people and a group of tourists. But among them, there was a man and a woman, they were both wearing expensive business suits. The man was tall and well-built; he had long brown hair and brown eyes and even though he had just arrived from a really long trip he didn't seem a bit tired. He was wearing a white shirt with a black tie; along with a dark grey jacket and a similar colored pair of pants.

The woman was of a normal size, she had long crimson hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a dark blue V-shaped blouse and a blue jacket buttoned with a single button at the stomach. Her nicely shaped legs were coming below her dark blue skirt and her elegant walking in high heels could make a lot of professional models turn green from jealously. Both of them were holding a suitcase. The woman then spoke to her partner.

"So the war is taking place in the next town. When did you learn all of this, considering you were so far away from here when it started?"

The man rudely answered "There is no need for you to know. Your job it to speak when you are spoken and do as you are told. Nothing else matters to you except for your mission. Understood?"

She stuttered "I-I o-only….b-but I just wanted to…."

"Silence!" The man barked.

"Yes…master. I'm sorry." She apologized and hung her head depressed.

The man clenched his fist furious, he wanted to punch her on the face for what she said just now; but he held back his urge as he realized there were many people around. He turned around and looked at her with a face full of contempt "I have told you many times not to call me like that while we are in public. Are you completely incompetent?"

"I'm really sorry I have angered you Sam; I promise that was the last time." She replied while trying to keep a straight voice.

"Let's hope so. Having to cooperate with a monster like you is enough trouble already." Sam's words were harsh and surely any person who would hear them would protest, but not her. She remained silent and accepted every insult her master was throwing at her.

"I'm sorry, if I cannot live up to your expectations Sam. I'm sorry for not being able to live up to my name as the Goddess of the hunt."

"Just shut your hole Artemis, I have no interest in hearing your excuses. We're here to find Dean what happened with Dean and nothing else. After that we're done; I couldn't care less about what will happen to you next. Whether you live or get killed is none of my business. Are we clear?"

Artemis didn't answer his question and looked away from Sam. "**Are we clear freak?!**" Sam repeated louder and angrier.

"Yes" She uttered immediately and rubbed her eyes before Sam could realize that they were getting wet.

* * *

**If you wonder why Castiel hasn't anwered so far, it was because the Heaven's gates were closed up until this day (See chapter 11; where he summons Saber). **

**Anyway here are the servant stats for Nemesis:  
****Class: Saber| True name Nemesis Goddess of revenge  
Strength B  
Endurance C+  
Agility A  
Magical Energy C  
Luck D  
Noble Phantasm B**


	15. The confrontation

"Come on Dean, no lollygagging." Shirou urged Dean to move faster since he was taking his time with his preparations.

"Calm down Shirou, I get your excitement, but it isn't like we will be late or something."

"But the visiting hours end soon, they won't let us see Sakura, if we arrive late." Shirou was annoyed with Dean's carefree attitude.

Dean tried to reassure him. "Oh come on now, you really worry about such things, if they try to throw us out, leave it to me."

"Your sweet talking won't work every time, you know. You were lucky with the police, but don't expect to be always like this" Shirou stated with a serious look on his face.

Dean responded sarcastically "I don't want to hear that from a person, who can't even say a small lie."

Shirou sighed in frustration "Anyway, are you ready yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go." Said Dean as he grabbed his car's keys.

"About damn time. Ah! I forgot, before we go to the hospital, can we stop by the flower store? I want to buy something for Sakura's room." Dean gestured him _OK _and they left the house.

Dean waited inside his car for Shirou to finish his shopping. Shirou returned to the car with a small pot full of pink blossoms. Dean when he saw the flowers noted. "I see you bought her sakuras"

Shirou blinked surprised. "Since when do you know about flowers?"

"I once had to make a potion to kill a monster and I needed a rare species of sakuras, I ended up ordering them from Japan, because I couldn't find them anywhere else."

"I see. I didn't know there were rare sakura trees, even though I'm Japanese."

"Now you will know what to do if you ever encounter a flower monster, which can only be killed by stabbing it with a knife drenched in a potion made of a hundred rare flowers from around the world."

"Why didn't you just burn the monster in the first place?" Shirou asked curiously.

Dean remained silent and looked away awkwardly. "Don't tell me you didn't try burning it?"

"Shut up, don't say another word." Dean warned him and Shirou laughed heartily at Dean's face when he realized his blunder.

"Anyway, where is Rin? Have you called her to inform her about Sakura?" Said Dean in an effort to change the subject.

Shirou replied seriously "Honestly I don't know what's with her. I called her yesterday three times to inform her about Sakura's operation, yet she never called back. I called her once today and she didn't respond either. I wonder if she's still mad about what happened yesterday."

"Are you sure she is okay? She may not respond because something happened at her? Maybe that monster girl or the giant axe dude attacked her and….." Shirou stopped him abruptly.

"Nah…Tohsaka is a beast. Please don't tell her I said that." They both laughed.

"Anyway Tohsaka said she was going to her mansion. Her mansion is the safest place for her. It's like her personal fortress. Also, knowing Tohsaka for so many years, I'm sure the first thing she did when she got there was to fill the place with magical wards and talismans. There is no way even for a servant to harm her as long she remains there. I'm pretty sure she is just so focused in her research about saving Sakura that she forgot to call us. Anyway you don't have to worry for her safety, she is ok."

Dean didn't seem completely satisfied; his hunter's instinct was telling him something was wrong, but he decided to brush off that negative thought and believe Shirou. Shirou knew her for years after all. On the contrary his instinct has been wrong on many occasions.

* * *

**At the hospital**

They were all inside Sakura's room, Sakura was sleeping so they were just sitting there quietly. According to the doctors she would stay asleep for some days, until her body completely adjusts with the new heart. They said that there is no imminent danger about her health and that it was a matter of time before she completely recovers and be back and kicking. Though her appearance would never be the same as before; she would have scars all over her body and her breast area was mostly missing. The doctors were concerned that this may cause her mental issues and suggested to Shirou, that she may need a plastic surgery so that she could at least get back some of her womanly charms. Shirou told the doctors that something like that was Sakura's decision for when she wakes up. He told them that he loves Sakura no matter how she looks and that he would stay with her no matter what happens. The doctors seemed relieved at his response.

Shirou was sitting next to Sakura's bed holding her hand. Rider was reading the newspaper which she had bought at the hospital's store and Dean was playing with his lighter; he opened and closed its lid in a steady rhythm. At 18:00 the visiting hours ended and the doctors requested that they leave the room. Shirou and Dean bid Rider farewell; Rider was staying third night straight with Sakura.

As they were walking towards the car, Shirou's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and answered it.

"It's Tohsaka."He said surprised. "Moshi-Moshi _(how the Japanese answer their phones)_, hey Tohsaka have you finally seen my calls and decided to call back? Listen I have wonderful news…."

_Tohsaka speaking through the phone_

Shirou grunted. "That's what I was about to tell you, there is no need to search for a way to help Sakura, because Sakura is ok now. A transplant was found and they operated her yesterday and now she is resting. I tried calling you, but you didn't answer."

_Tohsaka speaking through the phone_

Shirou face turned grim suddenly after hearing Tohsaka, Dean noticed that. "What is it Shirou?" he asked.

"Tohsaka, can you please say to Dean what you just told me. I'm putting you on speaker."

"Good evening Dean." Tohsaka said in a serious voice.

"Rin! What happened? What did you say to Shirou just now?"

"I told him that I found Caster's hideout and that we can go take her out tonight, while she is still recovering from the previous battle."

"You found that monster? But how? And how are we are going to take her out?" Asked Dean who was clearly interested in what Tohsaka was saying.

"I used a scrying spell, with some dog hair, I found at the courtyard. As for the way to kill her, do not worry she'll never know what hit her. I found a spell that temporarily will paralyze her, so you can kill her while when she's unable to move." Tohsaka said confidently.

Dean wasn't convinced so he kept asking Tohsaka more questions. "Scrying spell? Why didn't you say anything before? I know some things about those spells. I could have helped."

"I didn't want to tell you anything, before trying it myself. If I had a problem I would have asked you for help."

Shirou was the one to respond to that "You always go and do stuff like that without asking others. Why do you always act like you don't need help? If you can afford help, why not use it?"

Tohsaka sighed frustrated "I thought that after so many years, you at least of all people would understand that I always preferred to work solo. It is not that I cannot cooperate with others. It is just that I work better alone. And I would have told you, if my spell hadn't succeeded, I would have asked for your help so don't act all that surprised about not telling you beforehand."

Dean ignored what Tohsaka just said and continued with his questions still unsure about what to believe. "Let's say you are right about finding her hideout part. What about the spell you mentioned? You said that it could paralyze her. Is that even possible?  
When we last fought her, she was hardly wounded by our attacks and now you are saying that a spell exists that can paralyze her, just like that."

"Look Dean, I understand that you may find it hard to believe, but what I'm saying is true. The spell I'm intending to use on her, I inspired it from you."

Both Dean's and Shirou's grimaced in question after hearing that. "What do you mean Tohsaka/Rin?" They said in a single voice.

"It has to do with that binding spell that demon used on your spirit Dean. Basically a servant is a spirit so it can be chained by this spell; though it will take enormous amounts of magical energy. But it is achievable if Shirou and I combine our magical energy. We would be able to immobilize her for a short amount of time, but it should be enough for you to kill her. So what do you say?" Tohsaka asked them.

They both seemed hesitant. Then Shirou spoke first and said "Let's do it, I trust your plan Tohsaka; you would never suggest something if you had doubts that it wouldn't work. I understand it's risky but we both have gone through worse in the past. I'm sure we can handle this; I'm with you."

"Glad to hear it Shirou. So what about you Dean?"

Dean still wasn't absolutely sure on what to believe. On the one hand he wanted to believe her since Shirou had such strong faith in her abilities and himself had witnessed Tohsaka is no ordinary magus, she's exceptionally good at her work. But on the other hand his hunter's instinct was tingling, something was telling him that this was a bad idea and it wouldn't end well.

_"__Me and Sam have passed similar crises in the past, where we always put our lives on the line. And most of the times the odds were against us. This isn't the case tonight. There is way to pull this together. We have a good course of action. It was planned by a genius magus after all. And though it may be risky it is worth the risk since we can take out that monster once and for all.  
No plan, no matter how good it is, comes without risks after all. And when you go up against such a strong opponent, it is expectable that the risks would be high."_ Dean made these thoughts before finally agreeing with Tohsaka.

"Ok then, I'm in too. When and where are we meeting?"

"I'm glad you agreed, meet me at tonight at midnight outside the east side of town. I'll be waiting for you 2km after the "_You are leaving the town_" road sign. I will be at the bottom of a hill on the right side of the road"

"Ok we will be there. Make sure you get everything you need" Said Shirou.

"Yeah you too, bye." Answered Tohsaka and hung up.

Shirou put the phone is his pocket. "So what do you think of her? She is genius isn't she? She can be annoying sometimes, but she was the one who taught me everything I know about magic. If it wasn't for her I would have died in the previous Holy Grail War."

"Yeah, she seems nice. And I noticed she can take care of herself in a fight as well. I think we can pull this through and put that bitch down." Dean said so and smiled, but deep inside him he still felt a slight unease.

* * *

**Monday evening Fuyuki city outskirts**

Shirou and Dean were driving to meet up with Tohsaka. It was almost midnight and she was already probably waiting for them there.

"I told you not to stop for burgers there, it was too crowded. Now we will be late"

"How the hell? I was supposed to know, that they had only one cook. And that our orders would take so much time to be ready." Dean protested.

"Also Dean I'm surprised, how you can be so calm as to go eating before a battle like this."

Dean shook his head left and right and said in a sophisticated way "Shirou, you have to learn that going to a battle with an empty stomach is never a good option; always eat something light to keep you running."

"I agree, but in what universe a double bacon cheeseburger with extra bacon and cheese along with fried potatoes is considered a light meal?"

"In the Heroic Spirits' universe maybe?" Dean joked.

Shirou grimaced "Pff…smartass…you know that you don't even need to eat and yet you eat more than me since we met. It is not like you need food since I'm providing you with sufficient magical energy. "

"What can I say? Cheeseburgers taste delicious. You should try them sometime, I'm sure you'll adore them."

"No thanks I'll pass. I prefer less greasy food."

"Your loss...hey is that Rin over there?" Dean asked and pointed his finger at a figure who was standing on their right side of the road.

After looking at the place where Dean pointed Shirou replied "Yes she is, pull over the car."

Dean pulled over and they got off. Tohsaka was waiting for them under a hill on the right side of the road, exactly 2km after they left town. Her instructions were so accurate that made Dean lose any uneasiness he felt before.

_"__Maybe she knows what she's doing after all and I'm worrying for nothing."_ That's what he thought.

Rin was wearing her usual long red coat and when she saw them she greeted them and asked them. "Good evening. Are you ready, you two?"

Shirou gave her a thumps up as confirmation and Dean stated confidently "Yeah, let's go kick that freakish monster girl's ass"

"Perfect now let's get on with it." Tohsaka said in an eager voice.

"Wait, wait aren't you going to tell us where her hideout is?" asked Dean.

"We are already here. Why do you think I told you to come in the middle of nowhere?" She replied as if what she was saying was something obvious that they should already know.

"What do you mean Tohsaka? Where exactly are we?" Now Shirou was the one to ask.

"Well this is her hideout, but not in this world. It exists in a parallel universe in this exact same location."

Dean tilted his head "Wait can something like this even be possible? Can she really move from one universe to another?"

"Yeah it is possible. Though only sorcerer's level magi can travel between parallel universes. The fact that she is of a sorcerer level or maybe even higher indicates that we have to be extra careful when we approach her. I have a feeling that when we fought her in Shirou's house, she wasn't even using half of her magical power." Tohsaka said with a worried face.

"But Tohsaka if only sorcerers can travel through universes, how can we reach her? It may be possible for you since you are an exceptional magus and Dean because he is a servant, but for me it is impossible."

Tohsaka shook her index finger to indicate him his mistake "I never said, we are going to travel to her, we are going to force her to come to us."

"Force her? What do you mean?" Shirou curiously asked her.

"I'm going to use this." Tohsaka declared proudly as she took out an object from her coat's pocket.

Shirou and Dean looked at it simultaneously and at the moment Dean opened his mouth to ask what this is, Shirou shouted  
"**The Sword of Zelretc!**  
Wait how could you…? Is it real? Or is it a replica? I thought only one existed and it was carried by the sorcerer Zelretch himself."

Dean even more curious because of Shirou's reaction asked "What is so special about this dagger anyway?"

Shirou took a deep breath so he could calm down and replied to Dean "This dagger has the ability to cut through different dimensions aka parallel universes. Nine years ago during the events of the Holy Grail war, Sakura went berserk due to the amount of prana or mana (aka magical energy) she held inside her. Tohsaka had me replicate this dagger and its powers, because it was the only way to save Sakura from self-destruction." Tohsaka remained silent during Shirou explanation and when he finished she finally spoke to Dean.

"You see Dean, by slashing with this dagger the place we are currently in, we are bound to find the universe this monster has taken refuge. She will notice the disturbance for sure and she will come out of hiding to see what going on. That's when I and Shirou are going to perform the binding spell on her and then you will have some time to kill her."

Dean thought Tohsaka plan over for a while and asked "Will she really fall for something like that? It sounds extremely simple to me. She might suspect it is a trap and then she will never come out of hiding."

Tohsaka sighed "Yeah I know it is somehow obvious but it is our best shot. Either we try and see if it works or go back home empty handed and wait for her to strike again. Though she will probably be prepared next time and we will not. That's why I believe this is our best shot."

Shirou and Dean looked at each other and they agreed silently with a gesture of their heads and then they nodded back to Tohsaka in confirmation as to proceed. Tohsaka smirked and took out the knife. "Let's get this over with then."

She held it firmly in hand and started slashing the air around her. The dagger glowed with each swing and portals to other dimensions were opening and closing one after another. This continued for about three minutes when suddenly a portal that Tohsaka slashed open remained like this and its entrance started growing bigger. They all looked at each other and with a silent nod they backed off from the portal. Shirou stood next to Tohsaka ready to start chanting the spell the moment that Caster emerged from her lair. Dean positioned himself in front of them so he could protect them for as long as they chanted.

The portal glowed green. The light was so strong that Shirou and Tohsaka had to close their eyes. Dean stayed still not even blinking, if that monster went for a surprise attack he was ready and the light wasn't hurting his eyes after all. Then the light seceded and the portal closed, in the same place there was the monster girl looking at them with a bloodthirsty look on her face. Her dogs of course were also there barking at them. The girl then spoke ironically.

"Is it hard for you to be so immortally stupid? Not that I mind of course, you save me the trouble from searching for you, now I can just concentrate on killing you. There is no escape for you this time. Prepare yourselves."

Dean was supposed to stall her so Shirou and Tohsaka could finish the spell which they were chanting silently behind him. "Wait before we begin I think you should tell me your name. I want to know the name of every monster that I kill for my personal album, I can't just write _"Caster"_ or _"freakish monster girl"_ under the commemorative photo. My name is Dean by the way."

The voice the little girl spoke in could be described as otherworldly, demonic to be precise "You dare talk to me like that!  
I will crush you, I will start by crushing your legs so you can't run then crush you fingers one by one and break your arms.  
After that I will gouge out your eyeballs and turn them into a bloody pulp with my feet.  
The big fun starts when I will order all four of my dogs to chew on your limps and rip them off. But I won't let you die that easily. I will keep you alive, so I can feed your internal organs to my pets and when there will nothing left of you, but an empty husk, I will chop off your head."

Dean tried to not to show any emotion, but he couldn't suppress that emotion of disgust he felt, so he responded to her "You are way too sick, even for a monster. I'll make sure you will never see the light of the day ever again."  
_"I hope Rin's plan will work, or else I'm seriously screwed."_ The monster girl charged forth with her dogs.

Meanwhile Shirou and Tohsaka were chanting the binding spell together as long as Dean fought with Caster.

_I call forth the five elemental spirits_

_Pyros of fire._

_Aquos of water._

_Gnoma of earth._

_Doow of wood._

_And Tamel of steel._

_By the power of the laws of Berm Ed Loud the great wizard_

_I durst to beseech of thou _

_To grant me thine power_

_In order to forge the spirit chain._

_I command thou to obey me_

_Or else face oblivion according to the laws_

_That have been written since times immemorial._

A bright red glow came from behind Dean and he realized the spell was finished he prepared for Tohsaka's cue with his machete at hand, but what he saw terrified him. Caster not only did not stop; the spell hadn't even slowed her down, not even a little, she was charging at him at full speed. He realized that he had to fight her like this, at least long enough for Shirou and Tohsaka to escape. He took a fighting stance and readied himself. She closed in on him and ordered the attack.

"Crush him!" the dogs; responded to their master's call and attacked him all at once.

Dean pushed the ground in an effort to evade her by jumping upwards, but suddenly he felt his power leaving his body.  
_"What's wrong with me? I'm feeling weak. Like my strength is being drained from me."_  
He backed away from Caster by running to Shirou and Tohsaka's position. He spotted Shirou unconscious on the ground and Tohsaka standing frozen beside him.

He shouted at her " Rin! What the hell is going on here? What happened to Shirou? Why am I feeling weak? I can barely move my legs and my vision is getting blurry, there is no way I can protect you like this; take Shirou and leave, I'll stall her for as much as I can." At that moment Dean's legs failed him and he fell to his knees before Tohsaka.

Tohsaka didn't respond she just kept staring at him with hollow emotionless eyes. "What are you doing Rin? Take Shirou and leave** now!  
**Rin….Rin, do you hear me?"

She was frozen in place. Dean looked behind him, Caster was approaching them slowly, she must have understood that they were helpless; so she decided to take her time just so they would become more desperate, so she would enjoy killing them even more.

"Dammit, I can't understand why the spell didn't work. Did it backfire at them or something?" Dean said to himself.

"No"

It wasn't the answer itself that made his spine shiver in fear and despair, it was the voice who said it. It wasn't Tohsaka's usual calm and composed voice; fit was the voice of someone else, someone he knew really well. He turned around and looked her right in the eyes. They were pitch black.

* * *

**Op spell is Op. That spell was the most difficult part of this chapter. Hope you like it :P**

**Two Easter eggs in this chapter. See if you can spot them both! :D**


	16. Reunion

Dean turned around and saw Tohsaka's dark eyes, his face distorted from anger and he yelled at her or precisely the one who was in her "You bastard, you were here all along." Tohsaka's eyes looked down pitifully on Dean and an evil smile formed on her lips.

She smirked "Hehe…Indeed and from the very first moment no less. I was beside you since the day Caster attacked us. And all this time and you noticed nothing. And to think that you call you call yourself a hunter?" She laughed him off ironically.

"Crowley, you bastard, you will pay. I'll kill you, I'll gut you alive, you son of a bitch, I'll come back from the afterlife and make you regret for everything you've done." Dean shouted angrily at Crowley who had possessed Tohsaka body.

"Now, now, these are some pretty big words coming from a mongrel ready to be slaughtered. Dogs were supposed to be man's best friend, yet even though I treated you perfectly, you opposed me and rebelled against me. For that you will be killed, but not before I torture you. Believe me. You'd wish that you would be dead. My partner over here taught me some very interesting techniques which I can't wait to see in action." Tohsaka-Crowley smiled evilly.

Dean looked over to the place the monster girl was; the monster girl was nowhere to be seen instead in its place was a thin hooded man wearing a set of orange clothes trimmed with dark red stains. What attracted Dean's attention the most was his extremely wrinkled face which he could barely see under the moonlight and the two snake cloth designs emerging from behind his back.

"Well Dean let me introduce you to my new partner, you know since you broke free from our contact and all." Crowley laughed sarcastically.

"Not that I complain of course. Compared to you who have done nothing but disappoint me, he's excellent; cooperative, willing to do anything in order to win and most important of all deadly, **very** deadly. A servant fit for a king!"  
Dean still lying on the ground grunted angrily as Crowley's servant remained silent, listening to his master's speech. Dean addressed at him with hostility.

"And what are you exactly? Crowley's new pet dog? You know that he keeps you around just because you are doing all of his shitty jobs and he will throw you away the moment you will have outlived your usefulness. Knowing that why do you keep serving him under these conditions?" Dean made a desperate attempt to turn the tables to his favor, but Crowley's servant response astonished him.

His voice was hoarse "Rider or should I call you Mr. Dean, I'm completely aware of all of my master's plans and I already know what will happen to me if I fail him, I agreed to all of it before we started working together, but I don't worry about it. You see Mr. Dean, unlike you I happen to recognize a person's potential the moment I meet him. When I was summoned I immediately understood that my master is a person who wants to win, a natural born winner. I pick my allies very carefully Mr. Dean so I will never end up in a dangerous situation. With my master's help and my own skills remaining the last man standing is a piece of cake."

Dean couldn't believe his ears. There was actually a person who admired Crowley not out of fear, but out of pure respect for his abilities and personality.  
"Don't you have any dignity as a Heroic Spirit? How can you say in a straight face that you want to be someone else's tool for a reward that is not even sure you will gain even if you defeat all of the other servants?"

Silence ensued, Crowley broke it by saying "Not sure to get the Holy Grail? What the hell are you taking about? According to the legend the Holy Grail appears to the winner and the winner does get to have his wishes granted."

Dean was the one to laugh with him this time. "Ha….Really Crowley? And you call yourself a demon king?" Dean provoked him sinc

Crowley's smile faded immediately; his face distorted into something demonic "Tell me now what do you know, before I start cutting of your limps."

His bluff was successful. Dean slowly stup on his knees, lifted his head and with a sarcastic smile on his lips he said "Bite me Crowley, in a few minutes I will cease to exist once and for all, I will at last be free of you and what better way to go than to see you blow a fuse."

Crowley barely contained his rage "Don't mock me mongrel. I will make sure to keep you alive and torture you. Oh yes!  
I will torture you day and night. And when I'm finished with you, you will be begging me to let you die." He turned his gaze away from Dean and asked his servant.

"Assassin take him and the boy back to our hideout. Lock them and wait for me there. I'll come back once I get rid of this meatsuit and get into my usual self. As much as I like the magical power this girl's body holds, I'm fed up walking around in woman's body." Assasin nodded at his words.

"Wait why do you want Shirou too?" Dean shouted, but they both ignored him.

Then Tohsaka screamed and from her mouth red smoke came out. It quickly formed a thick small cloud which flew high up the dark night sky and Tohsaka fell on the ground unconscious. Then Assassin opened up a portal which lead to Crowley's hideout and proceeded to pick up Dean and Shirou.

"Wait stop, why do you want him too? The person who you want is me not him. Take only me, this kid there only got in this mess because his girlfriend was attacked by that monster girl, he doesn't know anything, he's useless to you." His attempt to convince Assassin though proved futile as the only thing he said was.

"You really are an idiot. I wonder what my master thinks and decided to keep you alive. Asking a thing like that is like asking why do humans need to breathe." Then he knocked him unconscious with a chop at the back of his neck.

He picked up Shirou with one hand. Despite his feeble figure he was considerably stronger than a human bodybuilder. He could probably lift up two or three times Dean's weight with ease. He went over to pick up Dean who was lying on the ground. He picked him up with ease and walked over to the portal. Then amidst the silence of the night a woman's loud voice was heard. It wasn't a scream or a cry for help it was a command to someone. It came up from uphill where a small grove had sprouted.

"Tusky, Attack!"

Assasin turned his head to the voice's direction, he hadn't managed to completely turn his head before he was knocked back by a strong force. He caught a glimpse of an enormous shadow that came down crashing on him, he instinctively dropped Dean and Shirou and used his hands to keep himself from tumbling. He shook his head in order to snap out of his dizziness and looked over at the thing that assaulted him. It was a gigantic boar. It had dark brown fur and yellow eyes which were staring at him with hostility. It had two horns, a broken one and another one sharp enough to piece through metal which was dripping in dark red blood.

He felt a sharp pain at his belly. He looked down only to see that his cloth was torn apart and his flesh was lacerated. There was a gash on his left abdomen. The blood oozed slowly but heavily from the wound, creating unbearable stabbing pains.

While writhing in agony Assassin pressed his hand on his wound and shouted loudly looking up the grove "What a fearsome beast you have there! But don't you think it's bad manners if you don't even announce yourself before a battle? What do you have to say for yourself Archer?"

From inside the trees two people emerged. The first one was a woman with red hair and blue eyes dressed in a green outfit with leather boots. She was holding a bow with an arrow ready to be shot right at Assassin's head the instant he moved a muscle. Beside her was a tall man with long brown hair dressed in casual clothes and was holding a handgun aimed at Assassin's head as well. The woman spoke first.

Her voice was strict and firm "I don't know how you figured me out but, I don't want to hear about sneak attacks from you Trickster. Now if you don't want to leave this battle with more holes than you started with, break the spell you cast on these people, walk into that portal you opened and never show your face in that neck of the woods."

Assassin inspected them with his eyes carefully. They were ready to shoot him down without hesitation, if he refused them. He realized that fighting was not an option, his opponent had her master with her and a beast to back her up, plus he was wounded. He decided to comply with them.

"Ok Archer, you win this one, I will break the spell and leave alive. Do we have a deal?" Assassin asked the woman.

The man responded in her place. "Do you really think you are in position to make deals monster? Break them free now, I won't repeat myself." He was furious and Assassin noticed it and determined that it was best for him not to push his luck any further.

"Ok no need to be violent." He snapped his fingers. "There you see, the boy's soul is free and his servant will be back on his feet soon."

The man commanded his servant "Go check them and tell me if he's telling the truth."

His servant jumped from up the hill performed a somersault and landed graciously on her feet. She approached Shirou, she touched him with her hand and checked his magical energy's flow within his body, then she did the same with Dean. When she was finished she answered to her master.

"They seem ok, I think he's telling the truth."

Assassin sighed. "I don't play around when my life is on the line. But I don't understand why you are helping an enemy who you will have to fight later on? Anyway can I leave now?"

Both Archer and her master remained silent they didn't have any intention of letting him out of here alive. The atmosphere grew heavy, Assassin realized what was going to happen, so he prepared himself for the inevitable. "You may go" Archer said.

Assassin turned around and headed to the portal, the exact same moment he turned his head around, simultaneously a gun and a bow fired; a bullet and an arrow were planted deep inside Assassin's skull. The portal closed and he fell down on the ground face first. After a while he disappeared and sparkles of lights scattered on the air.

The man from above said loudly at his servant "I'm coming down, watch over them ntil I get there." And he disappeared back into the trees.

Five minutes passed and a dark blue car approached the site. From the car Archer's master came out and approached Dean, he asked Archer. "How is he?"

"He is coming around, as for the others, it will probably take them a while to wake up. The girl had been possessed by that demon for many days and he has used much of her magical energy so she needs time to replenish it, but she'll be okay, she's strong. And the boy might be late waking up since his soul is damaged, but fortunately the damage is not that big. With some treatment later he will be back on his feet."

The man pondered for a while and then commanded his servant "Ok disappear now and do not show yourself unless I tell you to, I think even you can do as much." Archer nodded silently and disappeared turning into her non corporeal form

He then grabbed Dean by the neck and shook him violently "Hey, hey Dean wake up. I know you are okay, stop pretending you are asleep." Dean slowly opened his eyes and looked at the person who woke him up from his sleep.

"What the hell?" Dean blinked his eyes, shook his head in amazement. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Sam? Is that really you?"

At the call of his name Sam eagerly responded "In the flesh.' He let go of his grab.

Dean slowly stood up and rubbed his forehead. "Aw it hurts like hell."

"It will pass." Sam said.

Dean looked around him and saw Shirou and Tohsaka lying on the ground one next to other. He asked Sam "Are they okay?"

"They will be, soon" he responded in a serious tone. Dean ignored it and continued with his questions.

He said with a sad voice "What happened Sammy, why are you here? Why did you break our promise? Before I died you promised me that you will go on and have a normal life. Why did you end up here in this madness?"

Sam looked annoyed at his older brother and said "Don't patronize me. I just saved your life from becoming Crowley's bitch and that's how you treat me? Besides you're not even dead so stop trying to make me feel bad for coming all the way here."

Dean sighed with his younger brother attitude and apologized "Ok, I'm sorry, thanks for saving my ass out there. It seems that without you, I'm hopeless and I would have ended up dead before you can say _chimichanga_."

Sam exhaled frustrated. "Anyway, we have much too talk about and you have way too much explanation to do. For now let's go back to your place; in the motel I live I don't think they will appreciate so many people coming in looking like that. And these friends of yours need to rest, so it will be better at your place than mine.

Dean agreed with his brother's suggestion "Ok, but you better go with your car since I will be taking these two with me" he pointed at Shirou and Tohsaka. Sam didn't say anything he just nodded at Dean and entered his own car.

Dean gently picked up first Tohsaka and then Shirou, tucked them in the back seat of the Impala and drove off, Sam followed him and they both left the site.

When the lights of the cars couldn't be seen anymore a thin figure appeared from the shadows.

"That was a close call. That Archer and her master are going to be trouble for my plans. I should go back and inform Crowley about the situation, he won't like it, but there was nothing that could be done now. Also with what that idiot Dean said Crowley may start having second thoughts about winning the Holy Grail war. I wonder if I should tell him the real purpose of this Holy Grail war." With that Assassin opened up a portal and disappeared inside.

* * *

**So the brothers reunite once again.  
What do you think each one's reaction will be once they learn the truth for one another?**

**Also here are Assassin stats**

**Class Assassin| True name: Loki God of Trickery and Mischief**

**Strength B  
Endurance D  
Agility B  
Magical Energy D  
Luck C  
Noble Phantasm C**


	17. Wayward Brother

It was around 3:00am, the sky was still dark; not many stars could be seen because of the clouds, the pale silver moon casted its veil over Fuyuki. It was a quiet night; no noises could be heard whatsoever hardly anyone walked the streets of the Old Fuyuki during that time of the day. The silence of the night was broken by the engines of two cars who parked in front of the Emiya's residence. Those two cars belonged to the Winchester brothers Dean and Sam who were heading back after their encounter with Crowley the king of hell and his servant Assassin.

The front door of the black Impala opened and the elder brother Dean stepped out. He proceeded to pick up the two people from the back seat of the car. Those two people were Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin who were both still unconscious since they left the scene. He placed each one on each of his shoulders and then he addressed to his brother.

"Hey Sam this way." Sam followed after his brother.

Dean carried Tohsaka and Shirou inside the house and laid them into bed. After that he sat with his brother in the living room.  
"Ok now that we're the two of us. Mind telling me what this is all about? Why are you here? And how did you find me?"

Dean was oblivious to the fact that they were in fact, three and not two people in this room. The third person being Archer; Sam's servant who was still beside him in her ethereal form. Archer inspected the room around her and made sure there wasn't any dangers for her or her master.

Sam replied in an annoyed tone "I think I'm the one who should ask the questions, not you."

Dean snorted "Fine…suit yourself."

"First of all who are you?" Sam said with a serious face.

Dean tilted his head in question "Hmm…? What do you mean? It's me your brother… Dean"

"My brother died a week ago. I was the one who burnt his corpse along with all his belongings. Yet a week after his death, I see someone on TV who was the spitting image of my brother and he even had a car exactly the same as him. So I made my mind and came here to see what's really happening."

Dean brushed the back of his head awkwardly "Well a couple of things happened along the way and it seems that I slipped death's grasp once more." He smirked.

Sam raised his voice and in a slightly angered tone replied "This is no laughing matter. Right now I don't even know if you are my brother anymore or if you are just a monster who's impersonating him." The atmosphere grew intense as the two brothers exchanged glances in silence.

Dean shook his head in frustration, because he couldn't find a good excuse for a comeback.  
"Look Sam, I know this may be hard for you to understand, but it's me, your brother. Sure I died in your hands that night, but many things which you don't know happened during this time as well. If only you let me explain you would understand."

Sam looked displeased at the man claiming to be his brother, but he realized it was to his best interest to listen to what he had to say, he made this long trip to get answers after all. He gestured him to proceed with his explanation.  
Dean cleared his throat took a deep breath and started narrating everything that took place this week. He explained to him that Crowley managed to bind his soul with a spell which turned him into a pseudo servant. And that in order to escape he had to trick him in order to summon a new servant thus breaking the spell on him. Then he told him how he met Shirou and Tohsaka who was already possessed by Crowley at the time and finally he also informed him about the other servants he had faced so far. Sam listened to his explanation with interest, interrupting him every now and then to ask him for details; when Dean finished his explanation, Sam still wasn't satisfied and he seemed upset about something.

Sam gave him a hesitant look, still unsure of what to believe. Dean who knew his brother better than his own himself immediately noticed his brother's uncertainty, so he asked him.  
"Ok that's enough with that attitude!  
Why are you making that face? Was my explanation unsatisfactory?  
I told you everything you wanted to hear and you still treat me like a stranger. I'm still your brother that hasn't changed even if my body is somehow different, I'm still the same person you knew before."

Sam exhaled frustrated "You just don't get it do you? Would you just trust me, if I was the one who died and then out of the blue came back to life as superhuman? Even with everything I heard, I still can't decide if you are just another one of the monsters we used to hunt."

Dean sighed "I suppose, I wouldn't believe you either if the same thing happened to you. But I assure you servants are not like the monsters we hunted; servants fight only amongst themselves; they don't go after humans."

"Monsters fight amongst themselves as well and as you already know there are always some innocent people caught in the middle. And as far as I have learnt from my research, the last two Holy Grail wars had more casualties than the amount of people monsters kill globally in one year, so don't try to exclude them, just because they happen to act a be a little more civilized."

Dean listened to his brother without interrupting him. He replied to him sincerely.  
"You're right they are monsters, myself included!  
But consider this. Who would ever want this? Most of the people who became servants had unwillingly been forced to, after their death. Surely, there are some who like all of this, but they are the minority; most of them fight because they are forced to by the rules. Do you really think I wanted to spend all of the eternity fighting for someone else's cause?"

Sam's reply was cold and insensible. "People who were bitten by vampires didn't also want to get bit. Their fate is quite tragic as well. Should we just stop killing vampires then?"

"It's just not that simple…"

Sam interrupted him "Also if you as you claim that you don't want to fight, why don't you just disappear already?"

"I can't."

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"Both. I can't disappear unless my master summons another servant or he releases me by his own will and…" Sam cut in.

"And what if your master dies?" Dean's face turned grim, he couldn't believe the words his brother had just uttered.

Dean gave him an icy glare and warned him.  
"I'm saying this once, you may be my brother, but I can't let you touch Shirou neither anyone in this house. If you try anything I may have to hurt you." These words infuriated Sam who already was on edge.

He snapped. He slammed his hand on the table and barked at Dean.  
"So that's how it is then!  
When I came here I hoped that maybe I would be able to see my brother again, but it seems I was wrong. Since you are willing to raise your hand against your own brother who came here in order to save you."

Dean replied frustrated. "I never asked for your help for this exact reason. Because I knew how you would react!  
And Sam I'm still your brother, that hasn't changed"

Sam spitted on the floor "Tsk…You may have been my brother in the past, but right now you're nothing but a vile beast, a freak of nature who has been chained down by witches and is being used as their plaything. Look how low you have fallen!  
I swear it on my pride as hunter and as a Winchester I won' let my own brother's memory be defiled like this any longer. I will hunt you and kill you monster." Sam gave him a murdering look.

Dean shouted back at him furious at his brother's stubbornness.  
"For starters, you have to get into this thick head of yours is that no one is keeping me chained right now!  
The only one who did was Crowley and he will get his just desserts in due time. I'm working with Shirou out of my own will. And secondly if you really claim that you hate us servants so much, then why are you cooperating with one?"

Sam's face twitched "How did you…?"

"Know?" Dean completed Sam's sentence "From the moment I woke up I realized that there was another servant nearby. It didn't take me long to realize you were his master. Did you really think you could fool me by telling your servant to go invisible? So what is your excuse Sammy?"

Sam turned his head and spoke out loud.  
"No need to hide yourself anymore" Then in response to her master's command Archer appeared out of thin air.  
"Still as useless as ever. How could you fail at something as simple as that?! " Sam yelled at her then he turned his attention to Dean who couldn't help but show some astonishment by his brother's unusual attitude toward his partner.

"So what's your excuse for summoning a servant and treating her like this Sammy?" Dean provoked by speaking in an ironic voice.

"Like you know anything you monster filth. I'm just using one monster, because it is the only way to kill the all the others.  
When I'm done, I'll kill mine her myself. Those things are nothing more than tools to be disposed of when they fulfill their purpose."

Dean clenched his fist in anger while he asked "Tell me this, Sam!  
When did my peaceful brother turned into a madman who thirsts only for killing and shows no respect for others' feelings?  
_He pointed his finger at Archer._  
You were always the one who tried to reason me when I took it too far. When our roles were reversed?  
Is it because I died? I thought that we cleared out this before embarking on that mission; that if one of us was to die, the other one would carry on with his life; without dwelling on the past."

Archer showed a slight expression of surprise when she heard someone who considered her enemy trying to defend her, but it was too instantaneous for the other two to notice, besides they were busy arguing. Sam stood up, so did Dean, they glared at each other for a moment then Sam spoke first.

"Do you know how I felt when I saw you taking your last breath in my hands? I was a wreck and just when I was a starting to recover I see you alive and kicking in some faraway place. At first I didn't believe it. I thought that my eyes were playing tricks and that I was mistaking you with someone else. I had burnt all your stuff and you couldn't possibly come back to life as a ghost, I just couldn't accept your unnatural revival." He stopped to take a breath.

"Sam I…"Sam didn't let him finish and continued.

"But then it struck me. When had we ever been involved with something natural? So I looked into it and found out much stuff; about the servants and the masters, this city and the past wars that took place here and the history of the Holy Grail war in general.  
When I was done, I came to the conclusion that someone managed to summon you somehow and forced you to fight so I came here in order to free your soul. But unfortunately it seems I was wrong."

Dean sighed in desperation "I already told you no one is forcing me, I'm doing this because I want to. Open your eyes!  
The enemy is not me, but the other servants I told you about and of course Crowley. And also you have to know not all servants are the evil monsters you think them to be. There are good and evil servants."

"So, which one is you?"

"The personality of the servant is similar to the personality of the master. Shirou the man who summoned me is exactly like us, he wants to protect his loved ones, he strives for a normal life yet he can't catch a break just like us. And most importantly is a person whose desire is to help and save as many people as he can. Do you remember our family motto Sam? Or has your stubbornness made you forget that too?"

"You mean _Saving people hunting things, the family business._ What of it? Does that man you mentioned hunt monsters as a job too?"

"No, he's not a hunter, but he's a man who wishes for the same thing as us and that's why I chose to fight by his side and save as many innocent lives I can. And now that Crowley is involved into all of this, I have one more reason to stay until the end.  
So snap out of this and help me. We will do this like the old days; they won't stand a chance against us." Dean offered his hand as a sign of reconciliation

Sam gazed at Dean's open palm and thought for a while. Time passed excruciatingly slowly before Sam finally moved his hand. He moved his hand closer to Dean's and when it was close to shake it, he instead rejected his bother's offer by slapping his open palm back. Dean was taken aback, he didn't expect this reaction from his brother.

Sam looked at him with eyes that showed hatred. "You have the audacity to ask for my help? After everything that has been said. Do you really think I would just trust you, because you claim that you're a misunderstood monster?  
You must think me as a complete fool!  
I was starting to have second thoughts and I was ready to accept your opinion, but as it turns out, from the start you only wanted my help to get rid of the rest of the competition and when we would be done you would stab me in the back."

Dean shouted back at his brother "Have you gone crazy? What are you speculating? Who do you think I am, Crowley?"

"You're no better than him. I will take care of you and then it's his turn. Archer kill him!" Sam commanded his servant.

Dean could swear that he saw a glint in his brother's eyes, as he ordered his servant to kill him.  
"Wait!" He yelled.

But it was too late. Responding to her master's commands Archer drew her bow, but instead of firing she paused as if she was reflecting upon something. Dean didn't waste any time, he dived, grabbed the room's table and lifted in front of him; then three sharp arrowheads pierced the table stopping a few inches before his face. Sam took out from his jacket's inner pocket his gun as well and fired. The sound of the gunshot echoed throughout the house. The bullet went through the table's surface and grazed Dean's left shoulder.

Dean realized his improvised shield wouldn't protect him much, so immediately after Sam's shot, he kicked the table at them. Archer immediately rushed in front of Sam, protecting him from the blow, but due to weight of the table and the force Dean threw it at them, she lost her balance, fell down and landed on Sam with the table on top of them. Dean didn't waste time, he took this opportunity and rushed to the courtyard; he used the table as stepping ladder, jumped and vanished into the darkness.

Sam shoved her and the table off him, she fell aside hitting the floor in a miserable way; he stood up. He watched the red haired woman on the floor standing up on her own. Sam still felt the warmth of his servant's body; it was no different than that of a normal woman. For a moment there he felt the need to help her stand up, but then he reminded himself not to let appearances fool him. In order not to show any emotions he yelled at her.

"Useless monster, how can a wooden table throw you off your feet? And what was that hesitation you showed before shooting? Are you scheming behind my back, bitch?"

"N-No, of course not, it's that I didn't expect things to turn like that in such a short time. I thought that we were here to save your brother, not kill him." She responded in a low apologetic voice.

"You really think I want to side with that thing, who impersonates my brother? Dean would never agree being someone's slave. He's surely brainwashed.  
Enough chit chat we have to find him before he escapes."

Sam and Archer followed after him. They had already made enough commotion to wake up the people the neighborhood; it wouldn't be a surprise, if police showed up later. So once they stepped outside they decided to end this as quietly as possible; Sam took out the silencer and attached it to his gun. They searched around trying to find Dean, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

"Can you track him?" Sam asked abruptly.

"Probably yes, if he hadn't escaped the perimeter already." She replied.

"Do it" he prompted her.

Immediately Archer opened the palm of her hand and a green light appeared on it. She raised her arm into the air, then the light spun around itself in her hand at an incredible speed and finally it scattered in the air in a radius around the house. Each green sparkle traced a curved arc on the air and then it hit the ground. Each place a green sparkle landed a strange plant grew.

"What are these?" Sam asked as he pointed the weird plants that had grown out of the ground all of a sudden.

"These are my plant traps, they are almost invisible to the naked eye and when an enemy steps in them, they wrap themselves around their legs and squeeze them. They have enough force to crush a normal person's leg, so try to step where I walk.  
They can keep a servant of this level rooted for enough time for me to go kill him. If he is still here, he is bound to fall into one these traps, sooner or later.  
But are you sure he hasn't escaped?"

"He would never leave those two kids alone here and leave, that's not his style, he will come back to rescue them."

"But that is unwise, why would he do something as to go back where there are people who want him dead?"

"That's is just how he is? Dean would face off with ten monsters in order to save me and I would have done the same for him back then when he was alive."

"I think that's what your brother tried to tell you earlier. That no matter how much he changed he is still the person you knew. Maybe you should try talk with him."

Sam looked at her with eyes full of hatred "Don't you dare speak for my brother like you know him!  
I can't just accept someone with freakish powers as my brother, even though, it may look and act like him. Anyway, you saw for yourself that all he needed from me in the end was my cooperation to hunt down the rest of the servants."

Archer thought about it for a while and then gave her answer "I can only justify his suggestion as an act of desperation. Think about it for a moment, he died, came back to life and he's now forced to fight for a cause he never wanted to. Most people would grow desperate in a situation like this and seek help from the first familiar person they stumble upon, in that case you"

"Haven't you heard anything? He may have been summoned by chance, but now he's more than willing to go hunting. Either way, I cannot as a hunter let a monster on the loose neither I can as a brother leave my sibling's soul enslaved like this. Killing him would bring salvation to his soul and peace of mind to me."

"I advice you not to act rashly, you may regret such decision later..." Archer tried to reason him, but she accidentally pushed his buttons.

She looked at her with contempt "Don't you ever, patronize me again bitch, do you understand?"

Archer hung her head and apologized "I'm sorry, I'll try not to say unnecessary things from now on."

Time passed silently. Then suddenly Archer turned her head towards a certain direction and said "He's here". He fell into one of the traps."

"Where is he?" Sam asked; impatient to end this as quickly as possible.

"Behind that building." And she pointed over to the direction of the shed.

"Ok you go left and I go right make sure not to let him escape this time." She nodded in agreement.

Before moving into Dean's position, they agreed that Sam would confront him first and when Dean would make a run to the other side Archer would appear and shoot him down. Each one hugged their respective side of the wall and closed in on Dean. Sam readied his gun which held firmly in his hands, took a deep breath, gulped and tried to reassure himself by repeating inside his mind "_This thing is not your brother"  
_He thought of various excuses for his actions such as

"_Your brother is dead and that thing is a mockery for his memory." _

_"__Killing monster which threaten innocent is what we do." _

_"__He is just another monster who looks like Dean"_

_"__Dean died in your arms, this one is fake, kill him"_

_"__Kill him, kill him, kill him, kill him, kill him!" _

Sam's reason was taken over by bloodlust, even if the person who he wanted to kill was his own brother, Sam felt no hesitation. Instead he felt relieved, he finally believed that he was doing the right thing, so without any second thoughts, he stepped out of hiding and confronted Dean.

"It's over monster, surrender….?" Dean was nowhere to be seen, the only thing caught in the trap was his jacket.

Archer appeared flustered from the other side of the wall and looked at her trap and realized her mistake. They had been played right into his hands. Sam didn't expect this turn of event, he didn't expect that Dean was capable of escaping such a trap. Sam cursed himself, before venting out the rest of his anger at Archer who couldn't even face Sam after such a failure.

"How can you be so useless?  
Mistaking a person for a piece of cloth, you good for nothing excuse of a servant. Look, what happened because of your stupidity, you worthless piece of shit. The only reason I'm not ordering you to kill yourself is because, I need your powers."

Archer embarrassed lowered her head and asked for a second chance "I'm really sorry. Let me try again master, I'm sure I would find him this time."

Before Sam was able to respond, a figure jumped over the wall, got behind Sam disarmed him, grabbed him from behind and put a sharp knife on his throat. It was Dean. All of this happened, before neither Sam nor Archer could react. When Sam realized what had happened, he was unable to resist Dean's grab. Dean as a servant had physical strength far superior to that of normal humans. Even if Sam is above the average Joe in terms of strength, his strength was nothing compared to Dean's overwhelming power. It was like a fight between a baby and an adult.

Archer immediately readied her bow, but Dean used Sam as a hostage and threatened her. "You don't want to shoot this arrow, it may kill me, but your master will bite the dust as well. This isn't good for you right?  
So calm down. I want to end this peacefully without any unnecessary bloodshed." Archer lowered her weapon, but she still held the string of the bow drawn.

"Look what happened because of your incompetency." Sam yelled at his servant, then he turned his attention to Dean "So monster, you decided to kill me. Do it already. I failed to kill you, I deserve such a fate."

"Shut up Sam." Dean replied in a sharp tone.

"What are you waiting for? You can end this all in a blink of an eye thanks to your monstrous powers.  
Don't tell me you're afraid of worthless human like me? Go ahead do it! Cut my throat!" Sam provoked him.

Dean furious at his brother's suicidal attitude yelled back at him "Enough of that!" Archer instinctively drew her bow and aimed at his head.

Dean couldn't contain his anger anymore. His emotions took over his ability to think calmly and he lost his cool. His voice was abnormally scary. Some birds flew away from a nearby tree where they were sleeping; they got scared of all the commotion. Silence ensued. Archer exchanged gazes with Dean, measuring him, trying to predict his next move. Then Dean opened his mouth and exhaled exhausted.

"You know what, I'm tired of all this."

"Hmm…?" Archer and Sam uttered together.

"Don't' act like you don't understand Sam, I'm talking about your behavior…" Sam cut in

"As if you are one to judge me monster…" Dean ignored his comment and continued.

"You refuse to accept what really had happened and instead you make up your own little fantasy to justify your stupid actions! You don't trust your own brother's words and call me a monster and a freak.  
Do you remember when you had the demon blood in you?  
Or when you had lost you soul…?"

Sam gasped, his mind wandered off in the past, he started reminiscing memories better left forgotten. He remembered all the times he had been called or considered himself a freak, because of the demonic powers he had unwillingly obtained. Or the time when he had lost his soul and everyone was treating him like a stranger.

"…everyone thought you were a freak, even me for a time I thought there was no salvation for you. But I stood by your side until the end and helped you get back on your feet.  
Not only me, Bobby and Cass too; we all helped you back then. Do you know why?  
Because we believed in you. We believed that the true Sam was somewhere there and he would come back to his senses with a little push. We may not have always chosen the best way to help you, but we did help you in the end, no matter what."

During the time he had the demon blood in him, Dean had called Sam in front of his face a freak. He felt miserable back then, but eventually he turned that misery into dedication and decided to do something fruitful with it, yet he was once more stopped by his brother who saved his life. When he came back from Lucifer's cage without his soul, he felt better than ever. He though that he was invincible because he had no emotional attachments to this world. But once again his brother realized the danger that lurked nearby and did everything in his power to save his brother's soul. Sam had to endure an excruciating procedure in order to get it back, even though his mind doesn't remember it, his body does and it's still coming back to haunt his dreams from time to time.

"All I'm asking is to stop with this attitude and try to think logically the things I told, you will understand that I'm not the real threat. I'm trying to save people. I don't expect you to trust me in day or two, but I'm sure I can earn your trust, if you start cooperating with me."

Each time Sam had to endure humiliation, pain and suffering, but in the end there was always the salvation that was brought by his brother. Each time he felt he was doing the right thing, yet each time he was wrong; he was blinded by power and brought misfortune upon himself and his loved ones. He felt that now was the time to show that he had learnt his lesson. These mixed feelings overflowed his mind and filled him with anger. Unfortunately for Dean, he didn't realize that his words had completely the opposite effect on his brother.

Dean released Sam of his grab, he felt there was no need to hold him as a hostage anymore, because he believed that his brother would make the right decision; he didn't realize his serious mistake, until it was too late. Sam didn't speak immediately, he was thinking what Dean said. Then he opened his mouth and spoke in a calm yet dedicated voice.  
"By the power of this command seal I order you Archer, use your full power to kill this man." His hand glowed red as the command seal took effect.

Both Archer and Dean stuttered.

"What the hell…?!" Dean uttered.

"Please Sam, don't make any hasty decisions. I understand your anger, but killing him won't solve anything, please cancel the command before it's too late."

Archer was trying with all her power to withstand the force of the command seal. She tried to throw away her bow, but her hands wouldn't just let go off it. Despite all of the efforts Archer made in order to prevent herself from shooting Dean, it was futile. Not even servants could resist the power of the command seal; the seal's will was absolute.

She shot the first arrow, it missed due to the resistance she showed, but the next shot wasn't going to be the same.  
"Please, don't make me kill your brother Sam, you will regret it!"

Dean stuttered.  
"_Why is that woman going into such depths to help me?  
I'm her enemy right?  
Then why? Just because her master is Sam?  
Did she believe my words back then and now she's trying to stop Sam from killing me?  
Just how much does she care about him anyway?"_

These thoughts came into Dean's mind the moment he saw his _"enemy", _struggling in her effort not to kill him. He got furious at his brother. Anger and pity, those were the emotions which best described his feelings towards his brother at the moment. Anger because his brother had turned into a mad beast who did anything in its power in order to achieve its goal. And pity because Sam couldn't realize that the people who cared about him were right beside him.

"Useless until the very end, I should had ended this myself from the start. I couldn't had gotten worse results than this." Sam insulted his servant and looked her with resent.

Sam, tired of his servant's inability to kill Dean decided to take the matter in his own hands. Sam had no desire to back off now, instead he reached for his chest pocket and took out a silver bullet engraved with some magic symbols. A magic bullet capable of sealing the powers of a knight of Hell; Dean and Sam had used it in the past to stop Abaddon and now Sam was intending to use it against his own brother.  
Archer prepared her next shot, she took an arrow out of her quiver, placed it on the string, drew it and aimed at Dean. Her moves were sluggish, she was obviously still trying to resist the power of the command seal. Dean's keen eyes immediately spotted the bullet and identified it; he realized that if he wouldn't act fast enough, he was done for.  
Dean thinking quickly; he decided that his best course of action at the moment, was to retreat. He leapt into the air and climbed on the roof of the shed. He bent his legs once more and prepared for another leap. But, as he was about to take the final jump, he felt a sharp pain overrunning his right leg he had taken an arrow in the knee, Archer's arrow, which made him lose his footing and fall from the roof, head first.

Dean felt heavy throbbing in his head "Dammit…that hurt…"  
He said, then a gun fired and he fell down holding his chest. The grass underneath him was tainted red with his blood. He made an effort to stand up, but a second gunshot stopped him, he fell down and stopped moving.

"Go check, if he's alive" Sam prompted his servant. She nodded back at him.

Archer approached him, knelt next to him and checked his pulse. He was still alive, but it was clear that those magic bullets made quite a damage on his body. Dean how to play dead and he was pretty good at it, but in front of the goddess of the hunt, no matter how little life he had left in him, he couldn't fool her into believing he was dead. She stood up and faced Sam.

"He's dead, we should get out of here, before we get ourselves into any more trouble."

"Wasn't he supposed to turn into shiny dust or something? You told me yourself too, when one of your kind dies he turns into stardust or something. Why is he still like this?" Sam asked suspiciously.

Even though she was pretty convincing at telling lies, she had forgotten she had entrusted him with details about servants before they embarked on their trip.  
"Well…it is probably his body trying to stay alive after taking so much damage. His vital organs have already stopped functioning; it's only a matter of minutes…no seconds before he dies…"

Sam snorted "Why wait? I shall put him out of his misery now." He said as he started loading another two bullets in his gun.

"W-wait no need to waste any more of these bullets on him; save them for our future enemies." Archer replied flustered to Sam.

Sam pondered for moment "For the first time you actually said something sensible. Very well then, you finish him." He commanded her.

Archer was taken by surprise. She thought that Sam was able convinced, but instead he wanted to see his brother die in front of his own eyes in order to be content. She on the other hand didn't want to kill Dean not out of mercy or sympathy for him, but for Sam's sake; she knew very well how it feels to kill your own sibling. She had experienced it firsthand herself, when she took the life of her own brother Apollo.  
They had an argument with him about picking sides in the war. She felt betrayed when her brother left their pantheon in order to stay neutral so she chased after him and confronted him. They started arguing about what should be done. He told her that he wanted none of this pointless war and that he preferred to enjoy his life alongside with beautiful women and his music. Artemis always being obedient to her father Zeus, always doing what she was told couldn't stand for such a decision, so she attacked him. They fought for hours, but Apollo couldn't in the end match his sister combat prowess and he was slain by an arrow that pierced his heart. When Artemis had finally calmed down and looked at what she had done, she started screaming in agony, but it was already too late, Thanatos was already there eager to collect his tribute, meaning her brother's soul. She begged him not to, but instead he gave her a cold reply.

_"__Even the sun dies eventually" _With this he flapped his black as night wings and departed, leaving behind Artemis a living wreckage.

Artemis mourned her brother's death and kept cursing herself for several days, Artemis decided to make amends for her sinful act. She started searching for a way to bring her brother back to life. Eventually she found one with the help of her half-sister Athena; it would be a difficult road, but she was determined to make until the end. So she took part in the Holy Grail war, where she was summoned as a servant. She steeled her resolve and prepared herself for anything that could possibly prevent her from achieving her goal.  
When she was summoned by Sam, she was surprised to see that a human with no magical capabilities summoned her; she considered him a liability to her plan. Sam ignorant to the servants' dangerous nature yet, was abusive to her right from the start; prideful as she was she could not let a mere mortal insult her like that; she was determined to kill him and find another master. But her attitude changed when she heard his reasons of entering the war. It was the same reason as hers; he wanted to save his brother and he was determined to do things he wouldn't had done otherwise, like cooperate with monsters as he had mentioned. Her consciousness somehow compelled her to stand down and throw away her idiotic pride which was in the first place what killed her brother; if she was more open minded like her brother, none of this would had happened.  
Thinking back her past, Artemis realized that her situation and Sam's situation were exactly the same. Both of them were two stubborn and prideful people who couldn't agree with their siblings' ideas. She committed hubris by killing her brother on the spur of the moment, so along with her quest to revive her brother, she also decided to do everything in her power in order to unite those two brothers as a way to atone for her actions. However that wasn't the only reason she helped him; somewhere along the way she started developing affection towards him; maybe it was the fact that their lives could relate or the effort that Sam made in order to help his brother. She had thought of it many times herself that it was crazy to fall for a person who treats you like trash, but she couldn't help it; the more she denied it, the more her feelings towards him grew, just like her desire to help him save his brother.  
And now that all of this were about to come to a conclusion, Sam was being unreasonable. He didn't want to save his brother as he had told her, he wanted to kill him, because he regarded his brother's current existence a disgrace to his memory. And Artemis was in stalemate, because she couldn't make up her mind between her own goal which was to resurrect her brother and her desire to bring the Winchesters together again. Her feelings towards Sam also got in the way of her decision. Sam's shouts brought her back to the harsh reality.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Shoot him down!  
Even you, can do something so simple as to kill a half dead person. You can't possibly prove to be any more useless than you already are."

"Y-yes." She responded mechanically as she took out the arrow aimed it at Dean. She was still hesitating over what to do next; that's when her master's words gave her the final push she needed.

"Don't tell me you feel sympathy…?"

"…." She remained silent.

"I should had expected this could happen. A monster would always protect its own kind in the end.  
Listen here slave, if you don't kill him right now, I will use another one of these seals and force you to do it then command you to kill yourself.  
Is that what you want? Do you want to die monster?"

Artemis had finally made up her mind. She decided to stick to her own goal, which was to find a way to resurrect her brother. And in order to do it, all the other servants had to die. She hated herself for what she was about to do, but she had no say in this whatsoever. It was either him or both of them; Sam had just stated it, he would make her commit suicide if she didn't obey him. She had to revive her brother and she couldn't afford dying here. She prepare her mind and her body for the final shot. She straightened her back, took a deep breath in order to calm herself and aimed at Dean's head. She was determined to end his life with just one shot as an act of sympathy.  
Dean paralyzed by the effect of the bullets which were still inside his body, He could hardly move. He managed to slowly lift his head and look in front of him. His vision was blurry. He couldn't hear very well what was going, but from the tone of the voice he heard, it looked like Sam was yelling again at his unlucky servant. His vision cleared somehow, but what he saw made him wish he couldn't see anything at all. He saw Archer pointing him with an arrow straight to his face. His reaction was unexpected to say the least.

"So it came down to this. Had Sam managed to persuade you to kill me while I was unconscious?  
Honestly I wasn't expecting to open my eyes again since I fell down from that roof.  
I mean look at me, my leg is crippled and those magic bullets…I can say that they really did their job. They hurt like hell!  
Were you awaiting for me to wake up just to see my reaction when I'm being killed?  
I'm sure that Sam's not one to delay such things. If it was up to him he would have killed me long ago.  
The only logical reason that remains is you. Why are you hesitating to kill me? I can't understand you." He looked her straight in her blue eyes waiting for an answer.

If she had heard this speech a minute ago, it would had probably affected her judgment on whether to kill him or not, but now her mind was made. There was no going back from here. But since she was about to help him a moment ago; she decided out of sympathy to give him the answer he wanted to hear.  
Unlike before she spoke in a proud and strong voice "We all have someone to protect…even me… Because of your brother's will to save you, I almost lost sight of my initial goal. But now it's all settled…"

Dean interrupted her "Is that someone a friend? A lover? Or perhaps a sister or a brother…?"

She remained silent. When she opened her mouth was for saying her prayer for the departed  
"Anapauson en eirini" _(Rest in peace)_  
She let go of the stretched string and the arrow flew away, heading straight Dean's head.

At exactly the same time, a voice echoed loudly from the roof.  
"Gandr shot!"  
A red light filled the place and a bullet shaped beam came down from the roof and crashed with the arrow a little before it pierced Dean's skull. Immediately after that another figure jumped from the roof and swung down a sword on Artemis. She blocked it with her bow and pushed back the assailant. The sword's slash wasn't meant to kill her though, but instead create a distraction for the other person on the roof to help Dean escape. As he was being carried away, Dean lifted his head and saw his savior's face.

"Rin…_cough, cough…_and Shirou!"

"Shh… don't push yourself to talk. We'll talk later. Now we have other things to deal with." Tohsaka responded, she sounded absolute, Dean nodded.

Sam obviously angry at this turn of events, took out his gun and shouted "Diiiiieeeeeeeee monsters"  
His gun only had one bullet. Luckily because of his anger the shot missed its target who was Dean, but the bullet ricocheted on the wall and planted inside Artemis' stomach who fell down on her knees writhing pain. Tohsaka upon hearing the gunshots behind her, she quickly put down Dean and aimed Sam with her finger.

No don't kill him…" Dean shouted as loudly as his condition allowed him to.

Artemis saw with the corner of her eye Tohsaka aiming to take down Sam; she acted instantly. Ignoring the excruciating pain in her body, she stood up and ran to Sam's side as fast as she could.

Tohsaka ignoring Dean's word's she shouted. "Gandr shot!"  
A bright red beam was shot out of her finger and headed right for Sam's chest. But to everyone surprise the shot never connected with him. Instead the one who received it was his servant who had gotten in the way just in time before the shot reached him. She took the blow to her head.

Everyone stuttered even Sam. Artemis who was hit by Tohsaka's Gandr Shot stumbled and fell down. The attack wasn't so powerful itself; it was only meant to knock Sam unconscious so the fighting would end. But the battle took a different turn when she jumped out of nowhere and took the beam right on the head. Even a servant would be affected even a little by an attack like this, even if it was spell cast by a human.

Sam tried to speak, but he lost his words when he saw his servant standing up once again, her legs shaking. Even in that condition she still tried to defend him. Dean seeing everything of what happened thought that enough was enough. He slowly stood up still pretty beaten up himself and addressed to Sam.

"Sam, don't push your luck any further. You can't kill me tonight. Leave now and try another time. If you try again now to kill me, I can't guarantee that you won't be hurt. If you really want to kill me, back off for now and try again when you have a plan

His face was serious as he warned his brother. He wanted to end this without having to fight him and this was the only thing he could think at the moment that could possibly convince him. He betted on Sam's desire to kill him, hoping it was reason enough for him to retreat and reconsider his stance. For now that was better than having to hurt his own brother that's what he thought. Artemis' action of course played a role in his decision as well. He didn't want to see her be tormented anymore because of his brother's foolishness.

Sam looked Dean, Shirou and Tohsaka with hatred in his eyes as he wept his bloodied nose. He turned around and commanded his servant.  
"We're leaving, in the end you couldn't even fire an arrow straight, pathetic piece of shit" and he started walking towards the exit alone, leaving the wounded Archer behind. Archer got herself back on her feet alone and slowly caught up with Sam in front of the house's doorstep. Despite having her plan to save her brother foiled, she somehow didn't care. She just felt gratitude to the people who barged in and prevented Sam from killing his brother; and she was feeling content, because her master wasn't hurt.

As Sam and his servant were about to exit the courtyard Dean spoke "Sam before you leave, a piece of advice. If you really want to kill me, you must treat your servant better. You should at least be able to understand her desire to help you."

Sam stopped on his tracks and answered him "We will see about that monster." Then he and Archer disappeared from view. A car engine was heard from over the outer wall and shortly after the car started moving. After a few seconds, silence had once again fell all over the place.

* * *

From the roof of another house which was located about two blocks from Shirou's house, two people who had watched the whole scene from afar started discussing about what their next move.

"I don't understand why you didn't go down there to greet your friends. Wasn't that the reason you participated in this war in the first place?" A woman in a skimpy armor, wearing metallic pantyhose asked her partner.

"I'm not sure if I should go after all. After seeing all of these I'm starting to have second thoughts about meeting them" A man in a tattered brown trench coat responded.

"But Castiel, you already helped one of them already. When you saved that woman in the hospital from certain death. You responded to his calls and helped him, yet you never revealed yourself. Why the hesitation now?"

"I already told you Nemesis; I'm going to meet them when it's time, I still have some things I want to decide by myself, before I take the final decision."

"And when is that so called _right _time to meet them?"

"I still have to confirm if what Dean said is true. Now come on we have some investigation to do about the others servants" Castiel prompted his servant to move as he started descending from the roof.

Nemesis followed after him, responding with a question "Ok, whatever you say, but just for the record you still haven't explained to me what a _whore _is? I've been asking you that for a while now and you sigh every time I say so."

"_Sigh…._Was I really that annoying before Dean and Sam taught me about the human world?" Castiel mumbled.

* * *

**It has been over a month since my last update. I really wanted to publish more chapters, but thanks to the ridiculous amount of homework I got for this semester, I will probably be able to post only one or two more chapters before Christmas.  
If you have any comments or suggestion about my writing style and how to improve it, I'd be glad to hear them.  
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	18. Welcome back Tohsaka

**_Summary thus far: Sakura was attacked by Caster ending up in the hospital. Caster later attacked Shirou's house, but her attack failed because of Dean's summoning. Dean and Shirou battled Berserker a day later after they had visited Sakura at the hospital. Meanwhile Castiel had summoned his own servant looking for the missing brothers and Crowley had possessed Tohsaka leading Shirou and Dean into a trap where they were saved by Sam and his servant. After a long conversation Dean and Sam ended up fighting each other; a fight which Sam lost because of Shirou's and Tohsaka's combined strength. Dean is now injured after the fight with Sam and his servant and Tohsaka is finally free from Crowley's grasp._**

* * *

A strong gust of wind blew and cleared the dark cloudy sky revealing the bright half-moon which shone on everyone's faces. Dean was standing still gazing at the exit of the house where his brother left with his servant a few moments ago. His usual smile was nowhere to be seen. Instead, on his face sadness and disappointment were depicted. Behind him, Shirou was sitting on the grass with his back leaned on the wall of the shed trying to catch his breath. Tohsaka was the most energetic of them all; she didn't look a bit tired, despite being possessed by Crowley for so many days. She took a deep breath, turned around and faced Shirou.

"Well Emiya-kun, it's good to see you again. With my own two eyes this time. How are you hanging?" She smiled at him.

Shirou smirked "I should have guessed that something was wrong with you Tohsaka, you never called me once _"Emiya-kun"_ since we met."

"I guess, you should have." Tohsaka replied jokingly. She then turned her attention to Dean.  
"So you are Dean, right? Shirou's new servant as he told me. My name is Tohsaka Rin, nice to meet you, face to face at last." She said as she offered him her hand.

"Yeah, good to finally meet you too Rin." He said as he gave her a handshake. "I hope that bastard Crowley didn't do anything strange to your body while he was inside."

"No, hopefully he hasn't. But I'm wondering, why he possessed me in the first place?"

Dean scratched his head "Knowing him for so long. I'm guessing it is something you have. Do you have something that, he may be interested in?  
An artifact?  
A book of spells perhaps?"

Tohsaka placed the palm of her hand on her chin and started recalling all of her personal belongings that may have been of any value to a demon.  
"Except for the book with my family magic, I have nothing else that could be of value to a demon. I have some expensive jewels I use for magic, but I doubt he would go through all that trouble in order to steal them."

"What about your magic skills then? According to Shirou, you are a pretty talented witch. Maybe he wanted to take advantage of your magical energy." Dean said.

Tohsaka grimaced negatively. "I don't think so, if he just wanted magical energy there are plenty of other magi more powerful than me that he could had possessed…."

_Whoosh, _A strong cold gust of air suddenly blew covering her words.

"Brr….anyway, I suggest we head inside, before we catch a cold out here." Tohsaka suggested.

Shirou agreed with her, as he stood up from the ground he said. "Let's go, I'll prepare tea for everyone.  
Tohsaka help me move Dean."

"I'm fine, I can walk on my own." Dean said, but Shirou insisted to help.

So they headed in the living room. They sat on the couches in the living room. The wall clock was showing 4:25 am. Shirou asked them what kind of tea they wanted to drink.

"Earl grey for me, please" Tohsaka said.

"Do you have any alcohol?" Dean asked.

"Seriously Dean?" Shirou complained.

"What? Some strong alcohol is the best remedy for the pain." Dean replied.

Shirou didn't back down. "I object, first Tohsaka will treat your wounds and then I may allow you to drink a half cup maybe."

"Whoa-whoa, slow down. I'm fine, ok?  
My body will have healed itself by tomorrow. Right now what I need is some alcohol to drive off the pain…" Dean protested.  
"Ugh….ahhh…" But his grunts of pain only helped in proving Shirou's case.

Tohsaka interrupted him "Shirou's right Dean, you need treatment. Those bullets hurt you pretty badly; if they were normal bullets, you wouldn't even have a scratch on you. But since they are magical, it's different. We'll need to remove them from you, so your body could regenerate."

"And how will you remove them? Do you know any spells that could help?" Dean asked.

"No, it doesn't work like this. If it was the case your body would had already gotten rid of them. But these bullets seem to nullify magic around them. So we will have to remove them the traditional way, through surgery. Luckily I know a thing or two about human anatomy." Tohsaka explained.

Dean gulped as he touched his belly instinctively "W-wait, what do you mean _"surgery"_? Will you cut me open? And what was that thing that you know a thing or two. You are telling me that, you actually haven't performed any surgeries of this kind."

"Oh come on, don't be such a baby. I know how to perform a surgery of this kind..."_in theory at least"…_there's nothing to be afraid of." Tohsaka reassured him.

"Well if you are so sure that you can pull this off. I'm in your hands." Dean said.

"Excellent, wait for me in this room. I'll go get the tools.  
You still got that box of medical tools I gave you Emiya-kun?"

"Yeah, it's in the shed." Shirou replied indifferently and Tohsaka ran off to the courtyard to fetch the medical kit.

Dean left the living room and waited for Tohsaka in the bedroom. After a while Tohsaka came in the room, shut the door and began with the surgery. About half an hour passed before they were finished. During that time, Dean had cursed everything in existence. As they emerged out of the room, Shirou with a worried face asked them.

"What the hell happened in there?"

"Dean wouldn't stand still thus I ended up cutting him more than I should." Tohsaka replied in an annoyed tone.

"Don't blame your lack of stability to me. As a person who is undergoing a surgery without any sedatives, it is normal to feel a little tense." Dean defended himself raing your voice.

"_A little tense_ is an understatement. You acted like a five year old who was about to get vaccinated for the first time."

"Pff…" Dean snorted.

Shirou sighed. "Anyway, let's forget it. We should all go to the living room for now; I have prepared tea and there's sake (traditional japanese drink) for you Dean." Dean and Tohsaka nodded.

It was a little past five o'clock when Shirou brought them their drinks. He served tea to Tohsaka and himself; earl grey to her, traditional green tea for him and Dean on the other hand finally got the liquor he so much wanted, even if it was only sake and not scotch. When they all sat down, Tohsaka was the one to speak first.

"Well I think it is time to explain me what is going. I have a general understanding of the situation, because I heard bits and pieces from time to time, when I was possessed, but I'd like to know more." She took a sip from her teacup as she finished her sentence.

"What have you heard?" Dean asked her.

"I know that a powerful servant attacked you here and that's why Shirou performed the summoning ritual. And I know that this demon is a master and his servant is Assassin."

Dean gulped down his sake and said "Is that all?"

"Ah yes, I also know that for some reason police was gathered outside of my house the night I arrived here. But that's as far as I remember, because after I saw that, everything blacked out."

"I see, that was when Crowley must had possessed you and you lost consciousness" Dean remarked.

"I guess…. So who's going to tell me the rest? Also where is Sakura and Rider? I haven't seen them anywhere near here. Are they away?"

A long pause followed after Tohsaka's question. Shirou and Dean looked at each other with grim faces. Tohsaka understood that something was not right and asked again. This time in a more demanding tone.

"What happened to Sakura and Rider Shirou? Why are staying silent?"

Shirou decided to be the one who should explain her the situation. He took a short breath, took a sip of his tea and started talking. He told her about how Sakura was attacked by Caster, that she was badly injured and had to be hospitalized. He reassured her that her surgery was a success and that she would recover soon. Finally he didn't forget to mention their unexpected encounter with Berserker.

"Hmmm…well first of all I'm glad Sakura is ok and I'm going to visit her tomorrow first thing in the morning. As for all of the other stuff you mentioned….well…I think, we're in a pretty bad spot. For now, we are up against three known enemies that want to kill us, Assassin, Caster and Berserker. Also…." Tohsaka paused as she looked at Dean.

"What?" Dean asked her.

"Should I count your brother in the list of our enemies, or do you think you can convince him to back off?" She asked him in a serious voice.

"Don't worry about Sam, I'm sure he will come around sooner or later. I must admit it's going to be trouble dealing with him until then, but I assure you I won't let him continue like this for both our sakes. I will deal with this personally." Dean replied reassuringly.

Tohsaka sighed relieved "That's good to hear, nevertheless we're facing up against three enemy servants, while we on the other hand have only one servant on our side, two if you count Rider as well. And there are also no reports of Saber or Lancer"

Shirou cut in. "I don't think we can rely on Rider for fighting. She has devoted herself guarding Sakura in the hospital. She thinks she's responsible for what happened to her, because she wasn't there to protect her. So I don't think she will be much of a help in our fight."

"I see, so Dean is the only servant we have." Tohsaka pointed out while biting her thumbnail nervously.  
"Anyway, firstly I believe that we should try to learn the identities of our enemies, maybe we can find a weakness if we know their real names. You two can deal with that, I have books in my house that contain info about historical figures and mythological ones. Surely one of the books will mention a monster girl with dog tentacles or a giant with an enormous axe that controls lighting and rain. But I'm afraid it will be difficult to find Assassin's identity, he doesn't have anything unique on him to search for."

Shirou agreed with her "Ok Tohsaka, we're ok with that. But if we're going to search for their names what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to use scrying crystals to search for disturbances in the fey lines around the city. This way I may be able to pinpoint the location of a master or a servant. Also I'm going to think of a strategy that will give us the edge when we are going to fight them."

"That sounds a lot of work for one person. Are you sure you can pull this off?" Dean questioned her.

"Don't worry Dean. When Tohsaka says that she will do it, there is no way she will fail." Shirou reassured him.

"There is no other alternative. See, using scrying crystals correctly is extremely complicated. And we don't have the time to explain to either of you how it is done, that's why I'm doing it alone. Just stick to what I told you and we'll be fine."

Dean scratched his head "Well…if you say so. I guess I'll have to trust you. So after visiting Sakura tomorrow, we're heading to your place for research."

Tohsaka shook her head in agreement "Yes, but before we head to the hospital can we first make a quick stop at my place? I want to change my clothes; I'm disgusted with myself that I'm still wearing that demon stained outfit."

Dean replied jokingly "Yeah, I know that feeling. But since we are here can't you just borrow some of Sakura's clothes."

Tohsaka looked away awkwardly "I'm afraid that won't do."

"Why?" He asked curious.

Shirou eagerly opened his mouth to answer that "Because they are too bi…." But he stopped midsentence, when Tohsaka gave him a chilling glare that froze him in place.

"Emiya-kun, if you ever comment on something like that, I'm afraid that I will have to tell Sakura and Rider about your little bathing secret." _(See chapter 3)_

Shirou turned pale "How do you know about that?"

"That day I happened to pay you and Sakura a visit, but since no one answered the door and I didn't want to go back to my own place, I used my keys to enter and then I saw…"

Shirou shouted loudly "Ok, ok that's enough. No need to say anything else. I'll shut my mouth, but please don't say anything to Sakura or Rider….or Dean."

"You saw what? Come on, don't stop now!" Dean complained, but he was ignored.

"Back on topic I suppose, I guess we're stopping at your house then?" Dean said to Tohsaka who had just openly blackmailed Shirou without a shred of hesitation.

"Yes and as for why I can't wear Sakura's clothes, it is because we have different tastes as to what we like to wear." She answered his previous question.

Shirou muttered annoyed with Tohsaka's attitude "Why am I always the one to pay the price? It's not my fault that she can't handle the fact that her little sister grew bigger than her."

Tohsaka heard him and cheerfully asked him "Did you say something Emiya-kun?"

Shirou gasped "No, no. I'm saying that I'm glad this is sorted and that we should go to sleep now, the visiting hours start at twelve o'clock. We barely have six hours to rest."

Tohsaka looked at the wall clock and saw that the time was past 5:30 am. It was still dark outside, but the first sun rays were about to appear soon.

"Ok then, I'm heading to the guests' room, have a nice rest both of you." Tohsaka said and headed outside.

"Shirou, I'm not really sleepy. I might watch some TV or read a magazine and then hit the bed."

Shirou didn't object, he said _"goodnight"_ to Dean and headed for his room. Now that all of his previous tension was gone, Shirou was literally dragging his legs to the room. He was dead tired. When Dean heard the sound of the door of Shirou's room closing. Dean made sure that there wasn't anyone around and he was careful not to make a sound. He reached for his inner pocket and took out a pistol.

"Nice, I can still use it. It's a pity though I have only one shot. I must make sure not to waste it on something other than him." With that he put the pistol inside his pocket again and lied down on the wooden floor staring the ceiling, not many minutes have passed before he was fast asleep.

The morning sun was high on the sky shining brightly inside the Emiya's residence. But even though noon was approaching the only person awake was Shirou who was unable to stay in his bed after eight, even if he hadn't slept almost at all. Today was an exception though; the night that passed Shirou's body suffered a lot. His soul was tormented by some demon magic, he had to perform high level magic in order to save his servant and lastly what exhausted him the most was putting up with Tohsaka's attitude who was holding him right now from a leash, since she knew his dark secret.

Shirou despite his habits managed to sleep until ten o'clock. After that he just couldn't stay any longer in his bed. So he decided to do some housework around the house. This kind of activity was enjoyable for him and it was relieving him from any kind of stress. After he was done, the others were still asleep, but he didn't want to wake them up just yet, because they all had a tough night. He thought that he should do his routine workout. These past days, he was so busy with Sakura and the Holy Grail war that he completely forgot to exercise his body and his magic skills.  
It was around twelve o'clock when he was finished and then he decided it was time to wake the others up for breakfast. First he woke up Dean who was sleeping on the floor of the living room.

He approached him and shouted cheerfully "Rise and shine sleepy head." No reaction.

"Wakey-wakey Dean." He shouted at him louder this time. No reaction again.

Shirou decided to try a different approach. He went into the kitchen and after a while, he came with some food on a plate. He put the food near Dean's nose. As soon as he did, there was a twitch.

"S_niff, snif_….Is that fried bacon?" Dean said half asleep. Shirou remained silent to see how this go will. Dean grabbed it and devoured it in an instant while he was still half-asleep.

_"__Wow! This man's love for bacon is unbelievable. He can eat it while he's asleep."  
_"Hey Dean, there is more from where that came from and there is also omelet with sausages and cheese." There was an immediate reaction. Dean opened his eyes and asked Shirou.

"Hmm..? Where? Where is it?" He stood up on his butt, rubbed his eyes and looked around. Only to see Shirou laughing at him. He frowned annoyed.

"Jackass….Never joke with a man's love for food" Dean stood up on his feet and fast walked to the bathroom.  
"I'm going to wash up. In the meanwhile be sure to prepare some actual food".

"Hey don't be upset. It was the only way I could think of in order to wake you up. Anyway can you wake up Tohsaka while I prepare the food? She slept enough and we have many things to do. And we also have to go to her house to change those stupid clothes. Can't she just wear Sakura's clothes for now? Even if they are slightly bigger for her."

"Whatever…." Dean nodded and left the room.

Dean crossed the courtyard still annoyed at the way he was waken up, he reached the guests; room and stood outside its door.  
"I have to teach Shirou a lesson, for messing up with my appetite." He said to himself.  
Dean chuckled, knocked the door twice and called for Tohsaka. He tried to sound as if he was in a hurry.

"Rin…Rin…are you awake?" Dean heard disgruntled grumbles from inside.

"Sorry to wake you up, but Shirou told me to that you lazed around enough and it is time to wake up."

"Hmm? It is only a little after twelve o'clock. The visiting hours won't end before five o clock. Why is he in such a hurry?" Tohsaka replied in a grumpy tone.

"I know, I'm sorry I 'm just delivering his message. He said that we should hurry, because we have many things to do.

"I know, but what's with such a hurry?"

"He is worried that stopping at your house for you to change clothes will make us lose precious time."

"I thought we cleared that out yesterday."

"I know" Dean sighed "But he's insisting. He mentioned that no one will notice if you wear bigger than usual clothes since it's an emergency." He said while smiling evilly.

"I see. Thanks Dean. I'll see you two shortly."

"Ok, take your time. It's no good to wake up abruptly." Dean replied perkily and went back to the living room.

* * *

**Later that day outside of Tohsaka's house**

"Ok, guys. I won't take long. Wait for me in the car." Tohsaka said to both Dean and Shirou then she left the car and headed for her house to change clothes. As soon as she was out of sight Shirou turned around and looked at Dean with a grim face.

"I can't believe it, you sold me to Tohsaka!" He yelled at him.  
"You of all people! I thought I could trust and you backstabbed me.  
Why the hell did you tell her all those lies about me saying this stuff?"

Dean smirked evilly "First of all I never said any lie. I said to her what you told me; I may have added a thing or two, but the meaning stayed the same….  
And secondly you asked for it.  
You tricked me into thinking there was a delicious breakfast waiting for me, but all I got was a slice of bacon.  
Never do that again weiner dancer!"

"Shut up already!  
As if it wasn't enough for me that Tohsaka knew about it; now I have you as well tagging me with this retarded nickname."

"Why not? It's catchy. Don't you agree?" Dean teased him.

Shirou let out some annoyed grunts and turned his gaze away from Dean. He placed the palm of his hand on his chin and looked outside of the window gazing upon Tohsaka's mansion. They both remained silent for a while. Then Shirou spoke.

"Hey Dean, do you think we can manage all this?"

Dean tilted his head "Hmm? Where did this come from?" he asked him.

"I'm just curious about your opinion. You know since we already know four of our opponents and even if your brother poses no threat as you said; we still have to deal with the other three. And they are no push overs. It will take more than just the two of us to stop them. Even with Tohsaka's help, I don't think it is possible to defeat all of them."

"Hey don't start with the pessimistic attitude, before even trying to deal with the problem. It is true things are shit as they are now, but that's no reason to give up just yet.  
Let me tell you this. We are not alone, we have more allies than you know."

"Such as?"

"Remember that friend I mentioned the other day at the hospital?"

"Yeah, the one who never arrived; what makes you think that he will come to help us now?"

"I think he had already helped us, we just didn't understand it at the moment. Even I that I know him for so long didn't get it at first, but think of this.  
Don't you think that Sakura's operation was just a little weird?"

"What do you mean _weird?" _Shirou asked.

"Remember what the doctor said _"It's a miracle, I can't explain it otherwise"_?" Shirou nodded.  
"Let me tell you something. I know for sure that miracles don't happen every day, that's why we call them _"miracles"_, but I know that when a miracle happens there is someone who does it; and I'm pretty damn sure that this certain someone is not the God. So what remains?"

"I don't know Dean, I never liked being talked with riddles. Just spit it out." Shirou replied while turning to face him directly.

"I won't tell you. I think that it would be better to learn it from the person himself. I don't know why he hasn't shown himself, but I'm sure he's watching over us."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are annoying when you speak like this?"

"My brother, several times, when I was trying to explain to him that the woman I picked up at the bar was to help us with our job and not for anything else."

"And I'm guessing she helped you just fine!" They both chuckled.

All the previous tension was gone and the mood was more cheerful than before. Tohsaka was the one to interrupt them. Apparently she had gone in and come back out in just five minutes. She had changed all of her clothes. She wore a black blouse with a turtleneck, a woolen gray skirt up to her knees, plain black stockings and a pair of dark gray boots. She was also wearing her favorite crimson coat which was similar to the one she wore a while ago, but in fact, it was quite different. The last one was a just a red travelling coat made of cotton. The one she was wearing now was made of high quality red silk and it was a present for her, from Sakura for when she was appointed director of her labor department.

Tohsaka heard their laughter from afar and tilted her head in question _"What's gotten into them?" _ She thought.  
She approached the car, lowered her head and asked them through the window.  
"What is it that you two are laughing about?"

"Nothing important. I see you changed fast Rin!" Dean replied.

"Yeah we are in a hurry aren't we Shirou?" Shirou's laugh was cut short. But to Shirou's surprise Dean interjected and defended him.

"I think he was punished enough Rin. I'm sure he won't say anything that may offend you from now on. Besides I might not have expressed myself correctly. I was hungry at the moment and Shirou made me believe that we were having omelet with sausages and cheese for breakfast, but then he told me there was nothing which annoyed me, so I played a little prank on him."

"Hmmm…. I see. I forgive you Emiya-kun, if it is as Dean said."

_"__Forgive me?! Even though, I'm the victim here…Well I should take it and leave considering it's Tohsaka."  
_"Thanks Tohsaka." Shirou said.

"No need to thank me Emiya-kun. I misjudged you even though….. It wasn't entirely my fault." She looked at Dean.

Dean noticed her stare and immediately and changed the subject "OK, enough dilly dallying. Rin get in and let's go see Sakura."

Tohsaka entered the car; Dean started the engine and they drove off.

* * *

**At the hospital**

Shirou, Tohsaka and Dean entered the hospital which was bursting with people. Shirou addressed to the other two.

"You two go ahead. I'm heading over to see the doctor. I'll meet you at Sakura's room" They shook their heads in agreement and split up.

On their way to the room Dean declared that he will go get a coffee from the store, because he was still sleepy. He pointed out to Tohsaka the way to Sakura's room and left.

"Aaah…!"  
_"That coffee is awesome!"_ Dean thought as he took a sip from his coffee. Then it struck him.  
_"Last time Rider saw Rin was when Crowley was possessing her and they got in a fight.  
Rider doesn't know that so she must be thinking that she is the same Rin as before.  
And neither I nor Shirou informed her about that incident.  
I better go clear things up before they get into another fight." _He run to Sakura's room, spilling his coffee all over the corridor's floor along the way. To his surprise, he heard no loud voices. He opened the door and saw Rider talking casually with Tohsaka.

He stuttered "W-wait aren't you two…?"

"Mad at each other?" Tohsaka completed his sentence.

"Not anymore. Rin explained me everything. About her being possessed and not being herself; she also told me about last night and the night before.  
Why didn't you mention that you were attacked by Berserker Dean?" Rider stared him with her bright purple eyes. Dean felt a slight pressure throughout his body as he looked her right in the eyes.

He scratched his head awkwardly and looked away "Well…you know how it is. Doctor called right after the attack and we…"

"Forgot to mention it afterwards, right….?" Tohsaka cut in their conversation. Dean nodded.  
Tohsaka continued "…..like, you forgot to mention that while I was possessed, that demon messed with my friends….hmm?"

"Ok, ok you're right, both of you. We should have mentioned it. So stop giving me these stares. They are creeping me out."

Rider laughed "I thought that since you took on Berserker by yourself something like this shouldn't give you any trouble. Am I right Rin?"

"Well, of course and since you are in such a close relationship with the demon king. I'm surprised as well."

"Hah…" Dean laughed ironically "Very funny both of you. And to think that I was intending to invite you both to see my awesome safe house."

"I bet that it would be full of guns and stuff." Tohsaka added jokingly.

"More like empty beer bottles and sandwich wrappers. And occasionally rats, but I can't complain, it's really nice for me." They all laughed, trying to be as quiet as possible since Sakura was there sleeping. That moment Shirou barged in and saw them all with smiles on their faces.

"I see you are having fun. Well Tohsaka, what do you think of Sakura? Doctor said she will be awake in a couple of days or so."

"She certainly seems fine. I'm not sensing any disturbances in her magical energy despite how she looks I think she will be fine. There is one thing that concerns me though."

They all looked at her with worried faces "What do you mean Tohsaka? Is something wrong with Sakura?' Shirou demanded to know.

"I'm not sure what it is; I wouldn't call it a problem, but I think that the amount of magical energy she releases is higher than usual."

"Wait what? What are you talking about Rin?" Dean asked in astonishment.

Tohsaka took a seat crossed her legs and started explaining "You know how normal people breathe, yes?"

"They breathe oxygen in and let carbon dioxide out, right?"

Tohsaka nodded.  
"Well, the same goes for the magical energy of magi. Their body absorbs raw mana from the surrounding environment which the body transforms in order to use it for itself. In exchange the magi body constantly releases its own magical energy. Each magus' magical energy's structure is unique. It is something like magical DNA; different for all the people. The magical energy people emanate is used for identification purposes. Finding rogue magi or a missing magus and things like that."

"So you are saying that right now the enemy can track us down?" Dean asked slightly worried.

Tohsaka reassured him that there is no such danger.  
"No, even if they are looking for us. Tracking down a single magus in such a big place is impossible. In order to find track someone's magical energy there are two cases.  
Firstly if they are nearby, but then you will sense them as well or secondly if they cast a strong spell which leaves traces behind. That happens because the body of the magus releases even more mana after casting a spell. The level of the spell determines the amount."

Dean seemed confused upon hearing Tohsaka's explanation, but he didn't say anything. Rider then spoke "What were you saying Rin? What is wrong with Sakura's magical energy?"

Tohsaka shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, it looks to me like an after effect of the attack. Don't forget that her body has gone through a lot these days. So I believe it is normal for her magical energy to be a little messy. But I promise you, I'll look into it and if I find anything wrong I'll inform you immediately."

After Tohsaka finished with her explanation; everyone seemed more relaxed. The only one troubled among the four of them was Dean. Shirou noticed it and asked him.

"What's wrong? Are you worried about something?"

"Don't mind me. I'm just thinking over what Rin said."

"Ok, but if you want to talk to someone, I'm here."

"Yeah I know. It's good to have someone to talk to when the person you trusted the most wants to kill you."

Shirou stayed silent. He understood what Dean was going through with his brother who thought of him as a monster. The same had happened between him and Sakura during the last war. To most people's eyes she was just a monster who had gone berserk and was destined to die. But to him and the other people in this room she was a precious person in their lives.  
She was Tohsaka's little sister who Tohsaka always protected. She wasn't only Rider's master, but the person who gave her freedom and helped her adjust to this foreign world and asked nothing in return. And for Shirou she was much more, firstly she was his favorite junior classmate, then his precious friend and lastly and most importantly his lover and the woman who wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He was determined to make it through this war and he would do so without having to sacrifice anyone this time; unlike nine years ago when he was forced to slay his own servant Saber, because she had been corrupted by the Holy Grail. The moment when he pierced her body will forever haunt Shirou's mind. Shirou after remembering his painful past; he made a promise with himself and he was ready to uphold it until the very end.

_ "__This time, I know what I have to do!  
I know that I can't save everyone, that's why I will focus only on helping the people close to me."_

"Should we take our leave? We have a lot of things to do?" Dean nodded at her suggestion and headed to the door.

"I'll be waiting for you at the car." He said to other two. Before leaving he waved Rider goodbye who gestured back indifferently; Shirou noticed her reaction.

"Wait I'm coming with you." Tohsaka shouted. "Shirou don't take too long and Rider take care of Sakura for us. We'll be seeing you tomorrow."

"What are you investigating?" Rider asked Shirou when they were alone.

"Nothing specifically. We're just trying to gather info on the enemy's servants. If we find something, we'll make sure to inform you."

"Ok, but….!"

"Hmm..? something wrong?" Shirou looked at her curiously.

"I can understand Rin. She's the best when it comes around researching. You have studied under her wing; you have some experience about it, so you can help her. But what about Dean are you sure he's up to the task? I mean isn't it better if he went out and looked through the city to see if he can detect any anomalies in the magical veins."

Shirou thought about her suggestion for a moment and then responded "I think you are underestimating him Rider!" She frowned and looked at him with a doubtful expression.  
"There's more to Dean than meets the eye!  
Don't ignore the fact that he used to hunt ghosts and monsters for living. A good hunter should know all about his prey before jumping into fray."

Rider didn't seem convinced. But she decided to drop the subject. "Ok, I guess only time will tell if he's really good at his job. But until then don't expect me to entrust this guy with your lives. From what I've seen thus far, he's more suited for muscle job than researching." She stood up and walked towards the window taking a peek at the hospital's courtyard. Her troubled face reflected on the glass of the window.

"If do happen to find something notify me about your plans beforehand." She said to him without turning around.

"Ok, be seeing you then" Shirou bid her farewell. She didn't say anything as Shirou left the room.

* * *

**Later at Tohsaka's mansion**

"Hey Shirou, can you answer me one question?"

"What is it Dean?"

"Do you think Rin already knew about the state of the _"studying room"_, when we were deciding what each of us will do?" Dean asked in a mocking tone.

Dean was sitting on a classic antique wooden chair which creaked as he moved around; he lifted his head from a book he was studying and looked around trying to spot Shirou in the tiny room. He spotted him behind a large stack of books. The whole room was an ocean of dusty old books and manuscripts. Some of the stacks were so high that you could hide behind them. The little space that was left in the room was occupied by the chair Dean was sitting on and the table with a desk lamp on it, which dimly lit the tiny room. Shirou was forced to sit on the ground while studying the books because of it.

"I'm sorry, I should have suspected that this was another one of her tricks. I'm sure she just pretended that she had _"forgotten" _that she moved her books in the basement, before she left for London for the first time."

"Nice…! And now because of your naivety; I'm stuck with you in this rat hole of a room trying to find information about an unknown enemy."

"Well… Someone has to do it. Plus Tohsaka is the only one who can scan the whole town and search for any magical disturbances. It is not something we can do, so we help in our own way."

"Yeah, sure…. In theory it's all well. But I seriously doubt that these books will contain anything about a monster girl with dog tentacles or a two meters tall dude who swings a battle-axe even bigger than him.  
Anyway how goes your research? Because mine is a dead end." Dean said as he tossed away the book he was reading.

"Putting Assassin aside; I have nothing on Berserker as well. He's probably a warrior from a long lost civilization; if so it is nearly impossible to find any info on him."

Dean sighed annoyed. "And what about the little girl?"

"Not much, but at least I have something to search for." Shirou replied with a reassuring look on his face.

"Hmm? What is that?" Dean asked curious.

"Don't know if you remember, but when we fought her she mentioned the names of her dogs. Achilles, Zoey, Cyril and Ajax."

"Yeah so?"

"I didn't get it at first too, but Tohsaka pointed out a similarity between them. Do you see it?"

Dean pondered for a moment for when suddenly his green eyes lit in enthusiasm. "They're all greek names!"

"Exactly, that's what Tohsaka noticed as well and prompted me to search in books about greek mythology and folklore. She's sure that Caster is a person from ancient Greece's mythology."

"Better from nothing….I guess." Dean said while exhaling frustrated.

Their conversation was interrupted by Tohsaka  
"Hey! I hope I'm disturbing you from your research, but I have something to tell you guys." Shirou and Dean lifted their head and saw Tohsaka standing at the top of the basement's door.

"Yo Tohsaka! What brings you in our neck of the woods? If it is about apologizing about sending us in here…."  
Shirou pointed the cramped room behind him "then you better start now."

"I really don't know why you are so upset at me Emiya-kun. I already told you that I had completely forgotten about those books. I moved them in here when I first moved to work in London. That happened about nine years ago. How was I supposed to remember where they were?" Tohsaka faked an innocent smile.

Dean stood up from where he was sitting and walked towards Tohsaka, he looked her in the eyes and said  
"Oh I'm pretty sure you did remember, but you just wanted to have some fun while you were at it. Am I right Rin?"

"I'm starting to believe that Emiya-kun's attitude towards me is clouding your judgment Dean. Are you insinuating that I did something like this on purpose?" Tohsaka stated firmly while maintaining her previous smile.

Dean didn't back down "That's exactly what I'm saying." And looked at her with a solemn look on his face.

To Shirou's surprise Tohsaka didn't respond to Dean's challenge instead she completely ignored him and continued with what she was about to announce them before.

"I found out a servant's hideout." She claimed full of pride.

Both Shirou and Dean's eyes opened wide. "How did you manage to do it in such a short amount of time?" Dean asked her.

"I told you before, I work better alone." She replied to them with a smile.

"So, where is it?" Shirou asked her impatiently.

Her smile faded away in an instant as she gave him her reply "Einzbern's castle!"

Shirou's eyes opened wide "No way!" Shirou shouted, making Dean jump in surprise.

"What's gotten into him?" Dean asked.

Tohsaka answered him "Einzbern's castle is the house of one of our friends who died in the previous war. There's no one living there and that place is built on several fey lines; making it an excellent hideout for any servant who resides inside; as it provides the servant with incredible amounts of mana."

Dean leaned against a stack of books and spoke "Ok I get it so the servant and master who stay there have a large amount of magical energy in their disposal. But wasn't Shiro's reaction kind of extreme?"

"It is a little something else as well. And that's the reason I'll need you two to go tonight there and retrieve something from there. Shirou, you know what I'm talking about. Are you up to the task?"

Shirou stood up and with determination walked towards the basement's exit. He was nearly at the top when he turned around looked at Dean and boldly demanded from him to move his ass.  
"Are you going to stand there much more? Move it, we have work to do!"

_"__Wow! I wonder what's so important that he left without even asking questions."  
_"Hmm…before we depart…can you explain me what's all this about?"

"I'll brief you on the road. Go prepare the car and take everything that we may need for digging."

"Digging…?" Dean tilted his head as he moved away from the pile of books he was leaning on.

"Don't ask, I'll explain everything there is later. Go now!" He turned around and looked at Tohsaka  
"Is there anything else we need to know?"

"There are some things to give you, since you will be going out alone." She said.

"You're not coming with us?" Dean asked her.

"No, this is a stealth mission and stealth isn't exactly my type of job. You'd be better without me. I also have some other things to take care of.  
Now, Shirou come with me." Shirou nodded and followed her into her study leaving behind Dean who was still trying to figure out what was going on.

_"__I guess I should go prepare. It better be worthwhile all this running around. I really don't like it when I'm being ordered around and being left clueless.  
_Dean let out a long sigh showing disappointment and with that he closed the basement's door and headed out for the Impala. Soon after he got there Shirou arrived as well and they left.

* * *

**Here are Archer's stats as an extra, since I forgoto to put them in the last chapter  
Class: Archer| True Name: Artemis the Greek goddess of the hunt**

**Strength B  
Endurance D  
Agility B  
Magical Energy D  
Luck D  
Noble Phantasm A**


	19. The master of Einzbern Castle

It has been some time since Shirou and Dean departed from Tohsaka's mansion heading over to their destination; they were now driving along the mountain road leading to Einzbern's castle. Shirou hadn't uttered a single word since he entered the car and told Dean the directions to the castle. It was a quiet ride; Dean proposed to put on some music for relaxation, but Shirou turned him down. Dean gave him a quick glance; he saw Shirou gazing the rows of trees on the right side of the car; Dean's car was western type meaning the driver's seat was to the left side rather than to the right side like japanese cars. There was nothing to gaze upon from Dean's side only a cliff with some trees at the bottom of it, not that he had the luxury though; he was the driver after all, but with Shirou not speaking and also not being told not to put on some music, the situation was getting on his nerves. Without Shirou realizing, he inserted the music tape with his favorite songs into the music player and pressed _"PLAY"_; he also maxed out the volume. AC DC's _"Let there be rock"_ song roared from the speakers of the Impala. The music was so loud that made Shirou jump on his seat; he turned around and looked at Dean annoyed.

"What the hell? Turn down the volume. I thought I told you I don't want to listen to music." He shouted at him.

"You said you didn't want to listen to relaxing music" He defended himself stressing out the word _"relaxing"_. "If that's too relaxing for you let me know. I have some others that will blow your mind." Dean responded indifferently to Shirou's yelling.

"Shut up! I told you, I'm not in the mood for chitchat." He replied angrily at him.

"Maybe, but you still haven't explained me anything about where we're going or why you reacted like that before."

"I said! I will explain when we arrive."

"You know what, that's it. I've had enough with your vagueness. I want answers now! I'm stopping the car and we're not moving unless I know exactly what the heck is going on here."  
With that Dean turned off the engine of the car and stopped in the middle of the road. The music was cut short as well since the engine was off. Silence ensued for a while. Shirou realized that Dean was being serious about staying here; he decided that it was time he explained the situation to him.

"Ok, you win this time. Just so you know; if it wasn't an emergency, don't think that you would have gotten it your way."

"Hah, you seem to underestimate my persuasion skills." Dean bragged.

"Well whatever….it doesn't really matter anymore." Shirou cleared his throat and after taking a deep breath; he started talking.  
"First of all the reason we are heading to Einzbern castle is to retrieve a corpse…."

"A corpse?! Really?! I've had enough with corpses when I was alive. Is it really necessary to do it?" Dean complained.

"Yes it is. Stop nagging!" Dean grumbled annoyed upon hearing this. "As I was saying we need to retrieve that corpse because it is not a normal corpse…"

Dean tilted his head "Meaning…?"

"If you would stop interrupting me, it would be fine." Shirou let out a sigh. "It is not the corpse of a human…"

"What is it then?" Dean asked.

"It is the corpse of a homunculus…"

"We're digging out a dwarf?!" Dean chuckled sarcastically.

"Cut the crap, this is serious!" Shirou said in a serious tone.

Dean frowned "Ok….I won't say another word."

"Let's hope so.  
Ahem… To sum things up a homunculus in the world of magi is a creature consisting mostly by magic circuits. That means that a homunculus compared to a human has an incredibly larger mana pool and has much more potential in the practice of magic, but the drawback is that a homunculus life span is about twenty five to thirty years, give or take."  
Dean seemed quite surprised to hear the last part, but he held back his urge to comment about it and remained silent.  
"The homunculus' body we're digging belongs to a friend who died in the last war. Precisely she sacrificed herself in order to save me. It is a long story, but you have to know only that if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here alive this day."

"So, let me get this straight. Nine years ago, you were on the verge of death and that homunculus woman came to your rescue and sacrificed herself for you. You then buried underground."

"Something like this. Even though she was not a exactly what you call a _"woman"_.

"Hmm...? What do you mean?"

"She was a little girl; or at least her exterior appearance was that of a twelve years old child. She was actually older than me"

"Wait-wait-wait….Was that part of her being a homunculus?"

"Yeah…unfortunately" Shirou's tone was sad as he uttered these words. "She was created to house the power of the Holy Grail. Her magic circuits were used for that purpose. But due to the numerous modifications her body underwent in order to maximize the number of the magic circuits inside her; the growth of her physical body was slowed down significantly."

"What do you mean modified? From what you told me so far, I assumed a homunculus was someone who is born with a natural affinity for magic and because of this, he has a limited lifespan. Can someone modify his body?"

"I'm no expert, but as far as I know the modification of a homunculus' body is possible with magic; before mostly, but also after the child's birth."

Suddenly Dean's face darkened "I was correct to think that the worst kind of monsters were us humans!. Only monsters would do this to their kids." Dean slammed his hand on the wheel angrily.

"Are you satisfied now that you know the whole story?" Shirou asked him

"One last thing. Why do we need her body?"

"She may be dead, but strong magic still resides within her body. If a master is indeed living there as Tohsaka stated and he uncovers her tomb, it is going to be trouble for us. The master would surely use that power in order to empower his servant.  
Believe me! You don't want to know how ridiculously powerful her magic was."

Dean gulped. But he immediately regained his composure "Is the grave in an easy to find place?"

"No, he could only know that place, only if he had time to explore the castle thoroughly, but who knows for how long this master uses this castle as a hideout. Maybe he had found it already."

Dean sighed "Let's hope he hasn't found it yet then." Then he turned on the engine and drove off.

* * *

Dean parked his car on the side of the road. They came out and gazed upon the thick forest which they had to cross in order to reach the castle which was located deep inside it. Shirou was familiar with the road since he had been there, even though a decade had passed since then; he still had some memory of that place, so he took the lead.

"Follow me." He said to Dean who was still staring at the trees.

They walked for about half an hour. The path which Shirou remembered was full of wild bushes and every now and then Dean had to step in front and cut them down with his machete.

"Remind me to never let you again lead the way" He said sarcastically.

Shirou scratched the back of his head awkwardly "Well I'm sorry for that, I should have known that after so many years the path wasn't going to be the same."

When they were finally out of the forest; they stopped for a minute to catch their breath and plan their next move. Dean inspected the area, he was astonished by the magnificence of the building before him  
"Is this even real? How on earth did they build a majestic castle like that in a place like this? It looks like it came right out of a children's fairytale."

"I know right. That was exactly my first thought when I first saw it. You should have seen it in its prime when it was inhabited; now that nobody lives there anymore, it seems that the years haven't been kind to this castle. Its walls are covered in green mold, I see many windows have broken and the pointy roofs at its four towers seem ready to crumble. Hopefully the grave is still intact."

"You haven't told me. Where exactly is the grave?"

"The grave is located in an underground courtyard beneath the castle, the thing is that this courtyard is only accessible through a passageway from inside the castle." Shirou explained.

"I see. Let's go then." Dean eagerly responded and started moving towards the castle's entrance. Shirou followed after him.

Arriving at the castle's entrance; Dean observed it for a moment astonished by its size.  
"Wow, it really is huge! How did they even open it? It should take a considerable force to move this door and I doubt they have electricity."

"You're forgetting that the owner of the castle was a witch. Of course there are minor enchantments throughout the caste. This door has one too. You just need to know where to touch it and it opens by itself. If I remember correctly it was somewhere here…" Shirou explained Dean while trying to find the secret spot of the magic door.

"Could there be traps inside?" Dean asked worryingly.

"I doubt it. She never worried about invaders; if someone was to come, he would had to go through the forest. As I remember she had cast a warding spell on the forest, that would warn her if someone was enter that force field. Also she was a powerful witch and…well she was confident in her abilities."

"But if it is as you say; wouldn't the alarm sound when we entered the forest? If so, then maybe the master in here may already know of our presence."

"No worries. That spell is bound to the caster; meaning it lasts as long as the caster is alive. She is dead for about nine years; the spell won't work anymore…. Dammit I thought that was the right combination for the door."

"But can't the master here had cast a similar spell?"

"I don't think so, you need large amounts of mana to cast and maintain this spell in such a large area. She was a homunculus so it shouldn't have been a problem for her. I don't think any human could pull this off….not for such a large area anyway...Aha here it is!"  
A sound like a switch flipping was heard and then the door creaked. The sound it made was eerie and it could properly fit in a horror movie. The gigantic pair of doors opened slowly but steady; dust fell on the two of them as the doors moved; that was a sign that no one had used tis door for a long time.

"_That's strange if a master uses this place as a hideout; how does he get in and out?_" Dean wondered while he waited for the door to be wide open.

"Hey Shirou is there a second entrance to this place?"

"Technically yes, but…you have to climb to second floor window. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, just wanted to know the building structure a little bit better, before we go in?"

"Ok…. Anyway, shall we?" Shirou gestured Dean to enter the castle as he himself stepped in first.

The clear white marble floor of the castle was nothing like Shirou remembered nine years ago; when he saw the castle for the first time. It was all dusty and dirty now. His shoe left a clear footprint on the floor as he took the first step inside. Spider webs could be seen on the ceiling and there was dust everywhere.

"This place is messier than I had imagined." Shirou said while placing the palm of his hand in front of his nose and mouth, in order to protect himself from the cloud of dust that had risen.

Dean entered the castle holding his hand in front of his mouth as well. He looked around and observed the front hall of the castle. He was out of words.  
"I don't know how this castle used to be back in its days. But I know one thing for sure. The person who built this castle in the middle of nowhere must have a buck load of money."

Despite its impressive size though the whole place was as dirty as any building would be if it was left unkempt for nine years. The faded paint on the walls; the spiders' webs on the ceiling and the thick layer of dust on the floor, as well as the rotting wooden staircase that led to the first floor were proof of the castle's situation.

"This way!" Shirou pointed his finger at the base of the staircase. "Follow me and try not to make any noises. The master may be around here." Dean nodded silently and followed after him.

Shirou suddenly stopped on his track, as if a magic force paralyzed all of his limps. "Oh-no!"

"What is it?" Dean asked flustered.

"The secret passage…It-it is unsealed. The master here must had found the grave. Blast it all!"

"Tsk…" Dean cliqued his tongue. "So what now?"

"What do you think? We leave as fast as we can. If the master here has indeed found out about the grave and has already learnt the way to harbor its power. We're doomed. Also all of this may as well be a trap set up by the master here and we walked right into it." Shirou's worried tone made Dean anxious.

"Ok, calm down. Let me go first. Cover my back as we walk towards the exit."

"You got it….Trace on!" Shirou replicated Kanshou and Bakuya in each hand; and with that they started walking back to back towards the exit.

Their steps were slow and careful. Of course they could run for the entrance, but it was not wise, since they would risk being attacked from behind. Even though they couldn't still feel any presence nearby; they couldn't help but proceed with caution; their primal survival instincts were telling them to do so. They were halfway through, when Dean spoke.

"Was it so far when we came in?"

"We are walking with half our normal speed, of course we would be….eeek!" Shirou cut his sentence short while also letting out a weird sound. A sound Dean was used to hear, because of his work as a hunter.

"What's' up Shirou you just sounded like you saw a ghost. Is something wrong?" Dean kept walking without realizing Shirou had stopped moving.

"…" No response from Shirou.

"Hmm!...Shirou!" Dean turned around to see Shirou staring at the top of the staircase. He looked up there and saw the figure of a small child.

"Hello Shirou long time no see." She made a formal bow "Why didn't you come to pay me any visits for so many years Shirou? I was really lonely all by myself. And to think that I saved your life that night nine years ago. I'm really disappointed in you Shirou."

Shirou was simply too bewildered to talk. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Dean spoke on his behalf  
_"Nine years ago? Saved his life? Surely it can't be…." _He shook his head and replied to the little girl with a loud and firm voice.  
"Who might you be? Are you the master that has taken refuge inside this tower?"

"My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance Mr.….?

"…" Dean remained silent.

"You barge in here, ask my name and you don't tell me yours. You know that's against the rules of social interaction. You should have at least the dignity to tell me your name."

"Call me Dean. So Illasviel, who are you exactly?"

"My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern, not Illasviel. Call me Illya if you can't pronounce it correctly. That's how at least everyone used to called me nine years ago."

_"Again nine years ago… Why does she keep repeating herself? I don't want to believe that something like this is even possible…I hope I'm proved wrong." _Dean thought.

Shirou finally had mustered the willpower to speak " Ilya!" He shouted, the girl looked at him surprised.  
"Is that really you Ilya?" Shirou asked.

"Who do you think I am Shirou? Do I look different to you? Aren't I just like you remember me to be? Or maybe do I seem a bit older? I thought you knew that homunculi can't grow up after a certain age and my case is even worse. I will never be able to grow out of this fucking child's body!" the atmosphere grew tense for a second, but it calmed down immediately.

"Whoa…! Ilya what has gotten into you? Why are you talking like that? Also can you please explain me how are you still alive. I mean when me and Tohsaka buried you; we were sure that you were… you know dead."

"…" Silence, cold silence. Ilya didn't respond. She hung her head. Shirou dropped his weapons and tried to walk to her place, but Dean grabbed him by the collar and stopped him.

Shirou turned around to complain, but Dean covered his mouth with his palm and whispered to him.  
"This is not the person, you knew nine years ago Shirou. She is not even a person anymore. She's a ghost. This gadget here can prove it."  
Dean took an electronic device which looked like a polymeter from inside his jacket; he turned it on and the device started ringing like crazy.  
"See, this device is an EMF detector, it scouts for electromagnetic signals and rings when it spots them. The reason this device here rings that much is because there is a ghost nearby. Ghosts for some reason are emitting electromagnetic signals and they leave behind traces of them each time they appear. This is how we used to track them down, Sam and I.

Shirou's face went pale upon hearing these words. He backed off from Dean and pointed at Ilya who was still standing with her head hung at the top the staircase.  
"B-But, she's right here as I remember her, I mean if she was a ghost wouldn't she be more fearsome?" Shirou asked Dean not wanting to believe the facts.

"Ghosts usually take on the form they had before they died." Dean explained to him.

"I can't believe it! Illya please tell me he's wrong. I don't care if you don't want to tell me how you ended it up here. Just tell me you are alive!  
And then we should all go home together!" Shirou shouted at her hoping for a positive answer in a desperate effort to disprove Dean, but it was hopeless.

Ilya slowly raised her head and uttered some words that Shirou couldn't hear. "What did you say Ilya?" He asked.

"No one is leaving this castle!" Ilya shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Shirou, get back!" Dean said while pulling Shirou behind him. At the exact same moment he pulled him back, a magical beam landed on Shirou's position cracking the marble floor he was standing on.

"What the hell are you doing Ilya? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Dammit Shirou, snap out of it. She's not the girl you used to know; that girl died nine years ago. What you see now is her ghost that stayed behind; a moving pile of negative emotions and hatred. No matter what you say to her now is like talking to a wall; a ghost listens only what it wants to hear."

"B-but…."Shirou stuttered.

"She's our enemy; she wants to kill us and we must kill her.  
There's nothing else to it!" Dean said to him in a determined voice.

"How can I kill a friend? No….No I just can't attack Ilya. There must be another way…"He shook his head, as if he was still trying to convince himself that what he was experiencing wasn't real.

Dean's way of thinking was foreign to Shirou. Dean as an experienced hunter viewed this as simply another ghost case, but Shirou couldn't possibly just forget his attachments with Ilya. She was both his friend and his foster sister after all; since Kiritsugu is her biological father and the man who raised him. She was also the person who saved him nine years ago; something that Shirou would never erase from his memory. For all of these reasons Shirou couldn't bring himself to view Ilya as an enemy who wanted him dead. If he did that, he would feel like he would be betraying her.

Ilya threw at them a barrage of magical beams. Dean immediately grabbed Shirou by the waist and jumped to the side.  
_"Dammit… He can't think straight as he is now. We need to leave. Before anything else happens….."_

Ilya's shout interrupted Dean's thoughts "Come forth Berserker!"

Those words snapped Shirou, back to reality; they were familiar words. He was sure he had heard them before, but he didn't remember when; or more precisely he didn't want to remember them because they were just a bunch of nightmarish memories

"B-Berserker…. i-impossible….h-how can this be?!" Shirou stuttered.

Responding immediately to Ilya's call Berserker appeared out of thin air at the base of the staircase. He let out a terrifying roar that echoed throughout the hall. His sparkling yellow eyes made out of pure lightning, immediately spotted their target. His enormous axe was there of course as sharp as ever; firmly held on his right hand, awaiting to be bathed in the blood of its next victims.

"Shirou! We need to leave. We'll come back another time to finish this." Dean shouted.

"I hear you, let's make a run for it." Dean nodded and they started sprinting with all their power towards the exit. Dean let Shirou take a head start so he could cover their backs while they were retreating.

Ilya noticed them fleeing. "Hmm..? What's that, the rats are escaping? Berserker crush them!"

The giant roared once more and immediately started pursuing Shirou and Dean. Even though they were about fifty meters away from him, that distance was nothing for Berserker. He could cover it in a blink of an eye

"None shall leave this castle alive. I'll make sure that mine will be the last face you'll ever see." She started chanting a spell.

Shirou shouted flustered "Dean! The doors are closing."

."Fuck….We won't make it." Dean was right; their distance from the exit was far too great for them to cover it just by running.  
_"Maybe if…" _ Dean accelerated and grabbed Shirou by the waist.

"Whoa…!"

"Hang on tight, we're getting out." Dean reassured him. Shirou nodded.

Dean made a huge leap towards the exit covering a considerable distance in less than a second. They were almost home free; Dean focused his magical energy on his feet and prepared for another jump, a bigger one this time.  
Meanwhile the doors were closing now in a faster rate, it was a matter of milliseconds before they had closed to the point where a human being could fit through them.

"It's useless trying to escape. You are now in my domain…..hahahaha…."

Ilya had a deranged look on her face. Her white hair had been risen over her head; as if a continuous gust of wind was keeping them at that position. Her red eyes were crying, not tears, but real blood. Thick red blood dripping on the floor. Her white skin had darkened; it was the skin of a dead person. Not any dead person, but one who had been dead for a long time. And te beautiful white dress she was wearing was now torn in pieces. Even from that distance Shirou could see that that thing there was something vile. Ilya had transformed into a demon; she was nothing but a foul beast thirsting for blood; finding pleasure in killing.

Her eerie laugh made Shirou's spine shiver. "Ilya….what have you become…?" He muttered in sad low voice.

Dean jumped, hovering on midair along with Shirou. They could make it; he was sure of it. A shadow appeared above their heads, they both looked up, it was Berserker's axe; he had thrown it at them. They couldn't steer on midair. They were completely defenseless as the deathly axe was coming down on their heads. Dean shoved Shirou towards the ground. Shirou landed with his back, protecting the impact on his head with his hands. He collided with a nearby column and stopped moving.

"Shit!" Those were Dean's last words before the gigantic axe landed on him. He didn't even scream. It was a one hit KO.

Shirou regained consciousness. He tried to move, but his body didn't respond to his will. He was still dizzy from the impact with the column. He felt the urge to vomit, but he withheld it. His field of vision slowly cleared showing him the image before him. He saw Dean lying on the ground. He called to him.

"Dean!" He yelled as loud as he could. A sharp pain crossed his head; the urge to vomit came back. He couldn't stand it anymore, he vomited in front of him.

Dean wasn't moving. Not even a single muscle twitch. Beside him was the reason for all of this. Berserker's axe painted in blood; Dean's blood. It had sated its thirst for blood. Suddenly a purple lightning illuminated the room. Shirou already knew what was going to happen; he shut his eyes instinctively, he didn't want to see the gruesome ending of his servant. But instead of the sound of flesh being slashed he heard the sound of weapons clashing. He slowly opened his eyes to see what was going on.

What he saw caught him off guard, Dean was standing alive and well and he was fighting Berserker head on. His clothes were soaked in blood, but it was not only his blood. It was Berserker's blood as well. Berserker had multiple wounds all over his body and some of them were deep enough that you could see the tissue of his muscle. Shirou then observed another peculiar thing, the weapon Dean was using wasn't the usual machete he had used in the past. It was a strangely shaped sword that looked like it was made of the bone of an animal. Shirou slowly rose to his feet and shook his head.

"Trace on." He used his magic to create a bow on one hand and on the other hand he materialized Caladbolg. He placed the sword on the string of the bow and pulled it as if he was firing a normal arrow.  
"Dean, get back!"

Dean who up until now was focused on fighting the giant hadn't seen Shirou who had been standing on the corner ready to fire his weapon. He did as he was told. He retreated with a backflip. At that moment Shirou fired his bow. The sword he fired dug deep into Berserker's back and exploded. The giant let out a scream of pain and turned his back to see the source of the arrow. Shirou didn't stop there.

"Trace on!" Shiou shouted.

He fired another Caladbolg at Berserker. It exploded on impact. He repeated this another five times until the bow he was holding disappeared into thin air. He was out of magical energy. Berserker looked around confused from the barrage of attacks he had suffered. Dean took that opportunity and quickly closed in on Berserker, he jumped above Berserker's head and slashed him behind his neck with his two swords and then he quickly backed away from him. That last hit was the drop that overflowed the cup. Berserker snapped. He raised his axe above his head and roared even louder than before; black clouds quickly started gathering on the ceiling.

"No way!" Dean shouted.

Shirou stumbled "H-How can he make rainclouds gather indoors?"

"Poor little Shirou is despaired, because he can't understand what is going on." Ilya mocked him.

It started raining, not just any rain, but heavy rain, hard rain, rain so intense you could barely move inside it. Shirou couldn't see Dean inside all that rain. He could even barely see Berserker's gigantic figure from afar. Dean was also surprised by this turn of events, he never expected something like this to happen. Suddenly he heard a thundering roar from behind and instinctively without looking he jumped to the side.

_Crash_

The very floor he was standing on was smashed to pieces. If he had turned to see what was that sound he would have been sliced in half. He spotted Berserker picking up his axe and charging towards him. Dean started running, but the heavy rain was making this really difficult. Berserker on the other hand had no problem to move around, the rain wasn't affecting his movement at all. He caught up to him and swung his axe.

_Swing, swing, swing, _Berserker slashed the air two times; Dean managed to avoid them by ducking and sidestepping, but the third one connected. A swing with the back of the axe. Dean instantaneously fell unconscious on the ground. Berserker stood above his helpless victim and with his axe at hand, ready to finish him off. The rain subsided and the scenery was clear.

"Dean….No!" Shirou yelled at his servant, but it was nothing more than a hollow call. Dean was lying there semi-dead, this time for real and there was no way for him to help.

"See Shirou that's the power of a god. There was no way from the start that your puny little servant could match him." Ilya shouted from her position and she laughed hysterically.

_"God?!" _Shirou thought, as Ilya gave the killing order.

"Finish him!" She yelled.

Berserker responded to his master's request with a howl. He slowly rose his axe above his head. He roared once more to show his supremacy over his defeated opponent. As he swung down his mighty axe a magic portal suddenly opened from the wall beside Shirou and a woman's voice echoed in the hall.

"Suku jump!"

The axe never came down, instead it was Berserker who was pinned to the ground. Dean slightly opened his eyes; the last thing he saw before passing out again was the back an exotic woman holding a wooden spear with a bright purple gem at its tip. And on top of Berserker was some kind of animal.

_"Seems like Cas hired new angels to take me up._" Dean thought and passed out again.

* * *

**There were some last minute changes in the script since Hirez entered some new gods into the game. And I thought to myself that I had to use this goddess one way or another so here we are with the new servant. Originally Athena or Ne Zha were the possible candidates for Lancer, but when I saw her in the patch notes I said  
_"That's the one"_**

**I also recently learned that the short for Castiel is Cas and not Cass. Thought I should mention it, since I was writing it wrong all this time :P**

**Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always any constructive criticism about my writing style is greatly appreciated :)**


	20. The 'Lunatic' arrives

**Inside Tohsaka's mansion. A little while after Dean and Shirou left for Einzbern's castle.**

"Now then, let's do some research about the remaining servants of this war. I will need those cards….Now where have I put them again? Maybe in my room." Tohsaka mumbled to herself.

She searched the top shelf of her wardrobe and took out a small metal box. She tried to open, but it was locked.

"Dammit, where's the key? I hope it wasn't lost when Caster attacked Sakura here. If Sakura has misplaced my stuff again I will give her a good old school scolding when she wakes up….._._I should probably look for it, but…_ sigh_  
Pff….. I have no time for this." She mercilessly threw the box on the floor and pointed her finger at it; her finger started glowing bright red.

"Fluctum ignis *!" She shouted in a strong voice._ (Flame Wave in Latin)_

A wave of crimson flames came out of her finger and struck the defenseless box on the ground. The box was heat up in an instant; its color turned from metal gray, to coal black, to bright red until it finally melted. She pointed her finger again at the melt box and shouted.

"Wasserkanone *!" _(Water cannon in German)_

A strong burst of water was fired from her finger and hit the metal box. A thick cloud of steam arose and filled the room. Tohsaka let out a small cry of pain.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch_. _Damn that's hot; I better get rid of it before I get boiled in here."  
She brought her finger in front of her mouth and whispered. "Zephyr"

Her finger glowed light gray and then she blew gently that light. A strong gale came out of her mouth and cleared the foggy room.

"One of these days, I should really stop wasting my magical energy for such trivial matters…." She said to herself as she bent down to pick up the contents of the metal box.

"Now let's see which servants have been summoned."

Inside the box Tohsaka violently pried open were the servants' card from the previous Holy Grail war. They belonged to the priest Kotomine Kirei who was supervising the previous war for the church and after his death Tohsaka snatched many of his things; some of them she hid and others she took for herself. These cards were used to monitor the condition of each servant. Each time a servant was summoned to one of the seven classes; his respective card was marked by a magical mark. That allowed the church to know when the war had officially started and how many servants were alive at any time. If a servant was to die then the magical mark on his card would be erased; that meant that a place had opened for someone else to summon a servant from this class, but that was rare; during the Holy Grail war, only one servant from each class was usually summoned each time, there were usually no magi who would summon a new servant in the middle of the war.

Tohsaka took the cards in her hands and started going through them.  
"Let's see, only Saber and Lancer are left…Nghh Saber's gone as well. That leaves me with Lancer, I better start with the preparations."

Tohsaka prepared the room for the ritual in a few minutes and she was ready to begin the summoning ceremony. She had drawn the magic circle on the floor of her basement, spilled some drops of her blood and dropped a small tuft of hair inside the circle; she took a deep breath and started chanting. The magic circle started glowing yellow; at first it was a faint small light then it shone brighter and brighter by the second. Sparkles began descending from the sky and started forming a human figure. A few seconds passed and the ritual was complete; sparkles stopped coming down from the ceiling; the figure of the servant shone brightly one last time, before the light finally seceded.

The first thing Lancer did was to stretch her hands above her head. "Aaah…that's better!" She said relieved in a perky voice. Then she jumped around to face Tohsaka.

_Boing, Boing_

Tohsaka suffered a mini heart attack after she saw the front view. She instinctively touched her own chest and took a small step backwards. Her servant's womanly assets were even bigger than Rider's.

"Hmm? What's up master? Are you not feeling well?" Lancer asked her in a friendly tone.

"What?! No, I'm okay. I just got a little dizzy for a moment. That's all." Tohsaka replied flustered. She couldn't possibly say what she was really thinking to her servant.

"That's good, it would be bad for me and you if you started fainting right off the bat." She replied as she examined the room around her..

Tohsaka was surprised with her servant's attitude. She seemed really carefree and she was way more cheerful than all the servants she had encountered in the past. For a moment that made her think if that was a disadvantage for her.

_"__What am I thinking? I for starters should know better than to judge a book by its cover."_ She thought as she looked at her servant again from top to bottom.

Tohsaka noticed that Lancer had black hair like her and she had them tied up in a ponytail. Her skin was tanned brown with several tattoos on it. Specifically, she had two beige shoulder pad tattoos, one on each shoulder; two pale gray moon like tattoos, one on each of her upper arms; one bright yellow sun like tattoo, on her bellybutton and purple make up around her eyes.

She wore only the most necessary of clothing in order to cover her delicate areas. That included a green leather bra which emphasized her ample bosom and was decorated with red and yellow feathers, two simple leather bracelets on her wrists and a brown leather skirt decorated with animals' fangs. Also, on her head she wore an emerald circlet with a single purple gem embedded in the middle.

"Maaaster…You're dozing off again. What are you thinking?" Lancer grumbled, snapping Tohsaka out of her thoughts.

Tohsaka surprised said the first thing that came to her head "Ehm…nothing I was just wondering aren't your feet hurt? I mean you don't even wear boots or shoes."

"Why would I do that? I love the feeling of sand between my toes! Why would anyone wear shoes?" Lancer gave her a rather childish answer.

Tohsaka tilted her head questionably "Sand? We don't have any sandy grounds here. It's a city. The only sand you will find is in the park where the kids play." She said, trying to make conversation on this strange topic that came up.

"What?! There are no sand around here? And where am I supposed to let Suku play now?  
Aw…moonbeams!" Lancer complained.

"Suku? Who's that?" Tohsaka asked her.

Suddenly, Lancer's face shone, as if she had just remembered that she left the oven turned on.  
"Ah yes, I forgot to introduce you to my partner and friend Suku.  
Come on Suku, come say hi." She said to the air beside her, but nothing happened.

Tohsaka frowned "Maybe, your friend is shy." She said.

"No, no, it's not that he's just lazy that's all.  
Suku, I will say that one more time, if you don't come out right now. There's no dinner for you." The tone of her voice was strict.

_"__How does she expects for her friend to appear when she treats him like an anima…._AAAAA!" Tohsaka let out a high pitched scream.

A jaguar was lying on the floor of her house and was staring at her. It had yellow coat with black marks on it. The spots on the coat were more solid and black on the head and neck and became larger rosette-shaped patterns along the side and back of the body. The jaguar had bright yellow eyes which made Tohsaka feel uneasy as she was looking right at them. Its gaze reminded her of Rider's Mystic Eyes.

The jaguar stood up and started approaching Tohsaka slowly, while still staring at her. Tohsaka was paralyzed from fear as the wild beast was closing the distance between them. She started walking backwardly instinctively, but she tripped and fell down on her butt. The animal was now next to her and Tohsaka was sure that something bad would happen. She closed her eyes waiting to be eaten alive. Few moments passed, but nothing horrific like that happened, she felt a slight bump on her forehead; curious she slightly opened her eyes and took a quick peek to see what was happening. What she saw left her speechless.  
The jaguar was touching its head on her forehead and was licking her cheek as a sign of affection. After the initial shock had passed Tohsaka quickly adjusted to the situation and handled it very well. She stood up look the anima straight in its eyes, smiled at it and said.

"Nice to meet you too Suku, I'm Tohsaka Rin. It would be my pleasure working with you and your master." Suku growled happily. And jumped on her which resulted in Tohsaka falling down with Suku atop of her showing his affection, by licking her in places.

"Ahaha..that tickles…haha…ok, ok….hah…no, not there…guh…don't lick there, I'm sensitive…..argh…please Lancer take him off me." Tohsaka pleaded her servant for help.

Lancer who all this time was observing them with a smile on her face, gave a command at her pet "Ok Suku, come here, that's enough."

At her words, Suku jumped off Tohsaka and approached his master. "Nice, good boy!" Lancer patted his head.

Tohsaka slowly stood up, her face was all red from all that tickling and her hair was a mess. "Is he always like that with people he meets?" She asked Lancer.

"Only with the people he likes."

"And based on what criteria does he judge them?"

"Well…he's a sacred animal, he must have a nose for those things. But well in your case, most people can tell that you are a really nice person." She smiled at her warmly.

A smile like that couldn't leave any person unmoved. Tohsaka smiled back at her.  
"We haven't properly introduced ourselves yet. My name is Tohsaka Rin, I am the master of this mansion, the supervisor of this city and the magus who summoned you into the Holy Grail War. Pleased to make your acquaintance Lancer." She lifted her skirt and made a bow. A very formal and polite introduction.

Lancer was taken aback by her elegance. She couldn't be that classy even if she tried, yet this girl was somehow making it seem really natural.  
"Ehm..hello, I'm Lancer also known as Awilix and this is my partner Suku, we will be fighting on your side starting now, so please take good care of us." She tried to imitate Tohsaka's bow, but she ended up looking awkward as her skirt wasn't long enough to stretch so the gesture ended up with her moving her hands up and down.

"Awilix? I'm sorry, but I've never heard of you before. Where are you from?" Tohsaka asked curious.

"I was mainly considered as a moon goddess by the Mayans, but in some parts of Mesoamerica I was also considered as a patron of the ball game, I was pretty good at it too. I remember that time when Xbalanque was…."

Tohsaka cut in. "Excuse-me for interrupting your story, but we should stay on topic, also I have something to ask you and it is urgent."

Lancer nodded. "I'm listening" She responded nonchalantly as she brushed her hair out of her face.

"I already know that you servants have your desires from the Holy Grail and you want to win for your own reasons too, in others words you fight to win." Tohsaka said and made a pause.

"That's right. We servants are summoned, give everything we've got in fighting amongst ourselves in order to grant a wish of ours. What's your point?"

"What if you were to fight knowing that this wish of yours would probably never be granted, because of someone else?" Tohsaka asked.

Lancer scratched her head questionably "Hmm… I have the feeling you're trying to tell me something I don't want to hear, but since I'm not good with riddles, I suggest you tell me out loud what is it?"

Tohsaka sighed "Fine, listen Lancer…I don't care about winning the Holy Grail war, I want you to help me protect some friends who got into this unwillingly and now they're in deep trouble."

Lancer looked at her with eyes wide open. Tohsaka noticed her reaction and tried to explain the situation to her  
" I know what I'm asking is out of this world...I mean, I ask you to risk your life for some people you don't even know and I promise you nothing in return. No normal person would ever agree to something as crazy as that. But I really don't know what else to do!"

Tohsaka's eyes clenched her fist tightly.

"My little sister was attacked by one of the servants and almost died, her boyfriend who is also my friend was almost murdered by a demon, because I was careless and got possessed. Even now as we speak, he is with his servant on a mission and I've stayed behind, because I knew that I would just be a burden to them if I accompanied them the way I am right now. Since I came around all I've done is acting tough and being obnoxious to others, but in fact I'm so angry with myself for my mistakes that I can barely think straight.  
I ask for your help, because it is the only way I could think off in order to help them. I…I…"  
Her voice was unstable, she took a few deep breathes to calm herself down; when she opened her mouth to speak again, her servant interrupted her.

"No more, I've heard enough" She said.

"I'm really sorry Lancer, I…."

"You're sorry? Sorry for what? For wanting to help a friend? Your friends are lucky to have someone like you in their lives. You should forgive yourself and move on. Those things you told me weren't even your mistakes to begin with. You're trying to do what's correct right now and that's what counts." Lancer answered in a serious voice.

"So, that means you will help me? Even though there's no guarantee that you will earn anything?" Tohsaka asked her to make sure.

"Of course I will, you should never turn your back on a friend, that's what I believe. And right now your friends need you the most. I'm really happy to have been summoned by such a kind and caring person such as yourself." Lancer gave her a heartwarming reply.

Tohsaka was out of things to say. A few seconds passed before she broke her silence and said "Thank you." She smiled at her servant.

"Our pleasure master. Isn't that right Suku?" Suku growled approvingly.

"Thank you, both of you." Tohsaka said while wiping her eyes that got teary. Suku approached her and rubbed his head on her legs, she petted him.

"So master, what's the plan?" Lancer asked her.

She reverted back to her usual self in an instant. "I will explain you everything from the start, but before that can you promise me to keep what happened between us a secret?" Tohsaka asked her embarrassed.

"As you wish master, this will be our little secret. Only you, me and Suku will know how much you care about your friends." Tohsaka blushed a little from embarrassment.

After that, Tohsaka sat down on a near chair and started explaining her the situation from the very start. She started with when Sakura was attacked, continued to tell her about her demonic possession and all the information she knew about the demon and his servant Assassin. She also informed her about their current opponents Caster and Berserker, in detail. She talked about Archer and her master and finally, their top priority right now who was the master who had taken refuge in the Einzbern's castle.

"Sooo…" She boringly stretched her upper body making her breasts bounce up and down." that friend of yours and his servant Rider, are right now at that castle in order to retrieve a magical corpse?" She asked.

"Yeah something like that. And I want you to go there and help them as you see fit. But try to be discreet, don't do anything dangerous, if you don't talk to them first."

Lancer leaned against the wall "And how am I supposed to make them trust me? I can't just appear in front of them and tell them "_Hello, I came to help you."  
_Do you have something to show them in order to gain their trust?" She asked Tohsaka.

Tohsaka pondered for a moment and then answered "Here," she undid the latch of a necklace she was wearing around her neck and gave it to Lancer "take this necklace, it's a family jewel so be sure to bring it back. Shirou will understand if he sees it." she looked at the red gem embedded in the necklace nostalgically.

Lancer approached her, knelt in front of her, brought Tohsaka's hands together, looked her straight in the eyes and said in a reassuring voice  
"Don't worry, me and Suku will help your friends and if they are in trouble, we will save them and bring them back here. So, in the meantime cheer up and don't let the past get to you. I know it's been tough for you, but you should always try to smile!"

"Thanks, I needed to hear those words. You can't imagine how hard it was for me to act tough in front of everyone. They all trust me and depend on me for guidance, so I had to do it, but the truth is I'm really lost myself; all of this came too sudden on me and I wasn't prepared for it. I just…"

_Smooch _Lancer just gave Tohsaka a quick kiss on the lips. She backed away and smiled at her.

Tohsaka as soon as she realized what had just happened turned red as an apple. "W-what are you doing?" She asked Lancer flustered.

"A little something to cheer you up, since it looked like words weren't working. It seems to me it worked? Or perhaps, you didn't like it?" She asked while still grinning impishly.

"N-no it's not that…." She said in a low voice which she suddenly raised in order to hide her embarrassment "A-anyway! We've got work to do, you should head out there now. I have one last thing to give you before you leave, wait here." Tohsaka said as she stood up from her chair and headed for her study hurryingly.

After a while Tohsaka came back holding a small bag with her. "There are four teleport crystals inside, they are attuned to teleport you in the living room, when you invoke them. Use them only if you really haven't any other means for escape, they are really difficult to come by."

"And here I thought that you hadn't any imperfections. Turns outs you are a little stingy after all. But I'm happy you remembered to bring a crystal for Suku, most people would had forgotten it" Lancer said as she grabbed the bag and wore it around her shoulder.

"This is the least I can do to repay you for your help" Tohsaka said.

Lancer didn't reply to her she just smiled and then she ordered Suku "It's time to shine Suku!….._growls…._No! We don't have time for a nap!"

The jaguar stood up on its feet and walked towards her. She mounted him and prepared to leave when Tohsaka asked.  
"You're riding him? I thought he was just fighting beside you…Anyway, try not to be seen by the people as you leave the house."

"Why is it so important not to be seen?" Lancer asked surprised.

"Because humans nowadays aren't used seeing people casually riding jaguars. I can't just possibly explain to the neighbors, why a woman riding atop of a jaguar came out of my house." Tohsaka explained in a strict voice.

Lancer seemed a little confused, but she agreed in the end "O-okay, sure! We'll try not to be spotted by anyone."

"You can exit through the back window, if you follow the road it should take you to the route leading to the outskirts. From there, just follow the road until you encounter a forest, through this forest is the castle I told you about. They should be in there. And remember, do not act unless you are sure something is wrong!  
If all goes according to plan, just meet up with them and come back together, if things don't turn out as expected I leave it to you judgment to deal with it." Tohsaka explained the plan to Lancer.

"OK, we're off then, wish us luck!" Lancer said, before jumping through the window.

* * *

Shirou was being led to safety by a jaguar; he couldn't grasp the situation, all had happened too quickly. It all started when the exotic woman arrived unexpectedly out of nowhere, not only saving Dean from getting cut in half, but also managing to fight off the enraged Berserker and in the process saving both him and Dean. Her jaguar knocked down Berserker with a surprise attack and then it came to help him and Dean. While Shirou and Dean were being escorted, the woman fought with Berserker in order to prevent him from going after them. Before departing with them she gave Shirou a leather bag with teleport crystals; she said to use them to go back home. The only reason Shirou trusted her without objection was because, she showed him Tohsaka's family heirloom as proof; Shirou knew that Tohsaka wouldn't give this jewel to any random person and no one other than him and her knew the importance of this jewel, so he was sure that all this wasn't a trap by some other master. When Lancer was asked to come along she said that she would follow them after she was done there. Despite Shirou's objections she stayed back, her reason was simple.

_"__I could never turn my back on a friend!" _That was what she said.

Shirou was running alongside the jaguar inside the forest. Despite carrying a person as heavy as Dean, the animal didn't look tired at all, in fact it was running quite fast which surprised Shirou. Suddenly its movement came to halt. Shirou stopped as well.

"What is it? Are you tired? I can carry him if you like" Shirou tried to communicate with the animal, while making some idiotic hand gestures that he thought were helpful.

The jaguar growled once. "Are you hungry? Thirsty perhaps?" Shirou asked.

The animal growled again louder this time "Ah…do you want to be petted perhaps."  
A weird idea came to Shirou's mind. It was an animal after all, maybe it felt like it needed some praise after what it had done. He stretched his hand to pat the jaguar's head. At that moment the jaguar leaped on him and knocked him down.

"Aaa…help me! Help me, please!" Shirou shouted panicked, thinking that his end had come.

The jaguar slashed him in the front, tearing apart the leather bag he was carrying thus the crystals which were inside fell down. It jumped off him and pointed its head at the crystals on the ground.

"So that's what you were trying to tell me. To use the crystals right? I should have known, Ahahaha…" He laughed idiotically.  
"So, we are supposed to use these crystals to get home, ok…." But before Shirou finished his sentence the jaguar had ran off towards the castle.

Meanwhile Berserker still shaken from the surprise attack was fighting with Lancer, unable to inflict any serious damage on her. She was quick, perceptive, flexible and most important of all she knew his attack patterns and battle skills; that was the one decisive factor that turned the tide of the battle to her favor. The reason she knew all about him was simple, it was because she knew Berserker from before, she knew his identity, she had fought against him in the past and knew all the aces he had up his sleeve. Berserker was her friend and rival from her previous life and seeing him in that state, disgusted her. The very first moment she saw him and recognized him, something inside her snapped. She felt that it was her obligation to stop him and because she knew that reasoning with him wasn't going to work, only one thing was left.

Berserker threw his axe at her, but Lancer skillfully managed to dodge the axe by sidestepping; The moment the axe landed he instantaneously teleported to its location and attacked Lancer, but she already knew that, so the moment he arrived at the axe's location and swung his axe, she jumped above his head and stabbed him with her spear on his right shoulder. Berserker tried to throw her off by flailing around by she stood firmly as she dug her weapon deeper into Berserker's flesh, thick red blood started oozing from the wound.

Berserker let out a scream of pain, but despite that he remained stable on his two feet. He tried to grab her with his left hand, but she evaded all of his attempts and pressed the spear even deeper to the point it completely impaled his upper right body. The giant cried in pain as she the purple tip of her spear came out of the other side of his body drenched in his blood.

"Bitch! What have you done to Berserker?" Ilya yelled at Lancer and started chanting a spell, unfortunately Lancer didn't notice it vefore it was too late.

Lancer tried to vertically slash Berserker from the inside. She forcefully pushed with all her strength the blade of the spear downwards. Meanwhile, Berserker unable to neither throw her off nor call upon his healing power, was helpless as his body was slowly being cut in half. Despite his high defense rating, which made his skin as hard as steel, the spear infused with the power of the moon was slowly cutting its way through him. With every inch it moved downwards Berserker's screams grew louder.

"I…won't let you….besmirch my friend's…honor any further!" Lancer shouted as she was struggling to bring her blade down.

"Nex* !" Ilya yelled and a darker than black beam was shot from her finger. (_Violent Death in Latin_)

A beam of death hit Lancer on the head before she even realized she was being targeted; she was so focused at killing Berserker she didn't take into account his master. Lancer fell down, flailing around like she was having an epileptic crisis. This went on for some seconds, before she finally stopped moving. In the meantime, Berserker managed to stand up again, even though he was cut from the shoulder almost down to the waist he stood up as if that was nothing. He pulled out the spear from his body and threw it away, grabbed his axe, approached the unconscious Lancer and prepared to slice her in half; unlike her spear, his axe only needed a single swing to cut its enemy in half and a single hit with the blunt side in order to turn him into mincemeat.

But, just as Lancer had forgotten Berserker's partner, they too had forgotten about hers. Lancer's pet jaguar stormed through the window and lunged on Berserker, biting him on neck. Berserker screamed in pain as the beast sunk its teeth deep into his collarbone; he once again tried to shake off the enemy from his back by flailing around, but just like Lancer before, the animal was hanging on to him firmly with its claws. Berserker swung his arm and grabbed the animal from its tail, smashing it on the ground mercilessly. He proceeded to chop both of them down.

_Vroom, Vroom….Crash_

Broken pieces of glass flew in every direction as one of the windows in the castle was smashed into pieces; a black car flew in, crashed on Berserker and disappeared, from inside Dean and Shirou emerged.

"What the hell?!" Ilya shouted surprised.

"Surprise motherfucker!" Dean said at Berserker who was knocked down on the floor.

Shirou without saying anything, ran off and checked on Lancer "Are you okay?" She tried to nod at him, but even her face muscles weren't responding.  
"Hang on, we're leaving, I have the crystals. Dean, bring the jaguar here, so I can teleport us all." Shirou ordered his servant.

"You won't leave this castle alive!" Ilya shouted as she started throwing one spell after another at them.

"Sorry bitch, but I don't take order from ghosts." Dean responded cockily as he materialized a shotgun in his hand and fired it at Ilya, she disappeared.

"W-what did you shoot her with?" Shirou asked.

"Heavy salt, it works like a charm against ghosts, at least for a while. Now hurry, we don't have much time, before she comes up again." Dean responded, as he gently placed down the body of the wounded animal.

"Right, everyone hold your breath, Eo Ire Itu*" Shirou shouted. A blue light appeared from below them and a portal appeared. He threw the four crystals inside and the portal shone brightly. (_Travel in Latin)_

"Now, first the wounded." Shirou said as he and Dean pushed Lancer and her pet on the portal. The portal swallowed them.  
"Now us, on the count of three."

"Are those portals safe?" Dean asked worried.

"Depends on where you will land. Come on, one two, three…" They jumped inside the blue portal, which closed as soon as the fourth person went through.

* * *

**Here are the stats for Lancer**

**Class: Lancer| True name: Awilix goddess of the moon.**

**Strength B+  
Endurance C  
Agility A+  
Magical Energy D  
Luck D  
Noble Phantasm C**

* * *

**Did you like the Awilix's quotes I used for the story or the Janus' portal reference? Oh! And there was also a small Swagni voiceline that I used as well.**

**If you liked this chapter, but believe it could use some improvement, write a review with your thoughts, I'm always trying to improve my writing skills and your opinions help a lot. **

**On a side note, I want to say that I will be rewriting some of the first chapters. Not any major changes, I just want to correct some grammatical errors and make some tweaks. The storyline will remain the same.  
I have re-uploaded the first 4 chapter thus far.**

**Anyway, Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)**


	21. The Winchesters meet again

Tohsaka's mansion was in an uproar. Tohsaka was frantically brewing a magical potion for her servant who was in dire condition and Shirou was running up and down the mansion tending to both Dean and Awilix simultaneously. Dean was resting on the couch in the living room and Awilix was lying on Tohsaka's bed. Even though, Dean had gained a heavy trauma at the head from his battle with Berserker, he was mostly okay and was insisting that they should focus on treating Lancer. His words exactly were.

"If it wasn't for her, me and Shirou would have kicked the bucket by now. If she dies, I would never be able to forgive myself."

In order to escape from Ilya's castle, they all travelled through the portal which Shirou created using the teleporting crystals Tohsaka had given to Lancer. They landed inside Tohsaka's living room and as soon as she saw them in that condition she began preparations for their treatment. Tohsaka prepared a healing circle inside her room and shortly afterwards they placed Awilix and Suku inside. Unfortunately due to Ilya's spell the circle had no effect on Awilix, so that's when Tohsaka realized that she had to prepare a counter potion.

According to Tohsaka, the spell that Ilya had thrown at her was an ancient death spell that originated from the celtic god of death Ankou, it was high level magic that could kill almost anything immediately, even powerful magical beings like servants; no magus alone could muster the magical energy it required to cast it, but Ilya was another case; the only reason Lancer survived it was because of the moon's power which protected her from the worst; it was known that moon's essence held great magical capabilities but even that couldn't remove the lingering curse from her that was eating her from the inside.

"Shirou, how is Rin progressing with the potion?" Dean asked.

Shirou's cheeks were red from all that running and he had sweat all over his face.  
"_Pant, pant_…she still needs time to finish it. I'm going to change Lancer's ice packs and after that I'm going to prepare something for you to eat."

Seeing him all exhausted and willing to help, Dean felt a slight guilt "You don't have to make me food now. I'm fine…just focus on taking care of her. And tell me if you need any help with anything."

"I already told you! You will stay here and rest! You need time to recover your magical energy and heal your injuries. Let me and Tohsaka worry about Lancer." Shirou objected in a strict voice.

"Come on, it's obvious you can barely keep up with all this running around. Let me at least change the ice pack and you go help Rin." Dean insisted, but the response was the same.

"Stop being so stubborn! We need you to conserve your energy for the upcoming battles. Besides, haven't you mentioned something about contacting your brother for help? Do that instead if you have energy to spare." Shirou declined Dean's offer for help and left, leaving him hanging.

Dean had indeed promised them to gather some allies for the battle with Berserker, but as he was thinking his words more and more, he was realizing that he had better chance at dressing Crowley as a maid and play house with him than persuade his brother into helping him.

He sighed frustrated as he started thinking of an approach. Knowing that last time he even mentioned the term _help_, Sam snapped as if someone had kicked him in the balls, Dean knew he had to be convincing this time, because if he wasn't, he was risking taking a bullet in his skull.

In the meantime, Shirou visited Tohsaka in the basement where she was preparing the potion for Awilix.  
"Hey, I changed Lancer's ice pack. Do you want any help with the potion?" Shirou asked her.

"No, that's okay. I got this under control." Tohsaka replied in a stern tone without looking at him.

"Are you sure? I know I'm not you, but I may be able to grind some ingredients or chop them into pieces for you to use." Shirou insisted.

"I already said you, I'm fine! Stop bothering me! This part is crucial! I have to be totally focused not to make any mistakes." Tohsaka rejected him for good this time.

"Jeez, Tohsaka I'm just trying to help, you don't have to be like that. And by the way, you still owe me an explanation for suddenly barging into the Holy Grail war." Shirou complained to her.

"Will you knock it off?!" Tohsaka said in a rather angry tone; her eyes still glued to the bright green potion brewing in the kettle.  
"Get out of here! You're annoying me. Do you know what will happen to my servant if I fail here? I've had enough with people suffering because of my own mistakes." Tohsaka stated firmly

Shirou widened "What? What mistakes are you talking about Tohsaka?" Shirou asked, surprised at her last statement.

"Just leave me alone Emiya-kun, I want some time alone to think and now there are other more important stuff to worry about."

_"__What the hell is wrong with you Tohsaka? What had happened while we were away?" _Shirou found her behavior rather inconspicuous, but decided to go along with it and left the room without saying anything.

He returned to the upper floor where he saw Dean preparing to leave. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"I said I will get us help and I will do it. Even if I have to drag him all the way, I will bring Sam here." Dean said with determination.

"Ok, just don't push your luck. Last time your brother tried to kill you." Shirou warned him.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll manage."

"Wait, how do you know where to look for you brother?" Shirou asked him a reasonable question.

"Me and Sam have our own way of finding one another in a new town. We book a room in the first hotel in the phone catalog under the name of either Angus or Malcolm Young; I looked through the phone catalog Rin had lying around and contacted the first hotel I saw, they told there was a man by that name there."

"Wait, you said Angus/Malcolm Young? As of the AC/DC's band members?"

"Yeah, you know them?' Dean asked him surprised.

"You're kidding? There are my favorite band!" Shirou replied with excitement.

"Seriously?! I never thought that you would be listening to them."

"Well, with all this stuff going on we barely had any time to chat; in fact, I have a collection of vinyl disks back home."

"Seriously! It's decided, when we are all over this, you'll let me listen to those disks. I've always wanted to hear music from a vinyl disk, the quality of the sound is so much better than the digital version or the cassette version I have. Anyway, I should be going." Dean said.

"Yeah and I have to go take care of Lancer. Just try to get back in one piece and don't cause any trouble with your brother. I would like to come as well, but I can't considering the circumstances. Anyway, if you manage to convince him bring him here, I'll be making dinner" Shirou said to Dean as he was walking past the doorstep.

Dean raised his hand above his head as a sign of understanding and closed the door behind him.

"Now then, what should I do? Tohsaka doesn't want me near her, Lancer should be alright for a while…..I better call Rider to give her an update and then it's off to the kitchen." Shirou mumbled, as he headed for the phone.

Dean was driving the Impala in the streets of Fuyuki; he was still skeptical about what to say to his brother. He had left without any particular plan in mind; he had thought that maybe a car drive will help him clear his head and come up with a plan, but it was futile; every plan, every conversation starter he had come up with was no good. In the end, he decided to go with whatever would come to his head at the time; he also decided to bring a six pack of beers along.

_"__Yes, act naturally, if I overthink it, he may think that I'm trying to lead him into a trap…damn, I am overthinking it!"_ Dean thought as he was parking the car in the parking lot of the hotel.  
He inspected the building and noticed something peculiar _"That's a love hotel!"_

He entered the building, approached the reception desk and asked the clerk. "Excuse-me, I called earlier, I'm looking for someone named Malcolm Young; can you tell me in which room he resides? A redhead woman should be with him."

The elderly clerk put down the cigarette he was smoking and looked at Dean suspiciously. "And you are?" He asked him in a hoarse voice.

"Oh, I'm his brother, Angus Young. That's my id card." Dean replied casually as he took out the fake identity card he had and showed it to the clerk.

The old man grabbed it abruptly, put on his glasses and inspected it, as his gaze was going back and forth between Dean and the ID's photo "Gurgh…_spit…_Seems, legit to me. Ok, you can go, he's in room nine." The clerk replied as he wiped off the spit from his mouth with his sleeve.

Dean took back the ID from the desk, before the man managed to grab it again with his dirty hand. "Thanks, I'll be going then." He turned around to leave when he heard the old man calling him.

"Ah son, just a heads up. Your brother may be a little edgy when you meet him; try to keep it quiet if you can, my business has a name to uphold as well. Those few days he's been there, he has been disputing with his woman almost every night. With all due respect son, I can't understand why he even stays in here if not to plow her."

"Believe me, I was just wondering the same thing." Dean replied surprised to the old man's perception.

"I mean a woman like her could easily find a man who could satisfy her far better than him. She just has to know where to look….again, no disrespect!" The old man said, while standing up from his chair and proudly showing his stature to Dean.

Dean chuckled "I'll be sure to let her know, when I see her. Thanks again!" Dean thanked the old man and headed for Sam's room.

He went upstairs and as he was about to take the turn for Sam's room he heard a woman's voice from behind. "Don't move!" Dean recognized her voice, it was Sam's servant, Archer had set up an ambush and was waiting for him.

Dean froze in place, not out of fear, but because he wanted to show her that he came there bearing goodwill. "Relax, I come in peace. See, I even brought us some beers." Dean said while showing off the six pack in his hand.

"Shut up, empty your pockets and drop that pack you're carrying….Slowly!" Archer ordered him in a strict voice. "Don't try anything, for you own sake." Then the door in front of him opened, Sam came out with gun pointing at Dean.

"Hello Sam, it's nice to see you've been doing well. We didn't part in the best possible way last time, so I came her in hope that I can fix things up."

"Shut up and do what she told you. Empty your pockets!" Sam interrupted him abruptly.

"Ok, chill out. I'm emptying my pockets." Dean emptied his pockets which contained some yen which Shirou had given him, his fake ID, the keys for the Impala and the receipt from the store he bought the beers.  
"Happy now? Also, can you put the beers into the freezer if we aren't going to drink them? It will be a shame if they cool off." Dean said nonchalantly.

Sam looked at the six pack on the floor and then looked at Dean. A pause ensued "Get inside" he said.

Dean with his hands behind his head walked into Sam's room with a smile on his face. "Hmm….nice room, but why is there only a double bed? Don't tell me that you two, despite your regular disputes, you actually had…you know…gotten intimate with each other. Well, it's a love hotel after all, so that much is expected. It is only natural when-" Dean kept rambling with a huge grin on his face.

Sam interrupted him. "Will you cut the crap?" Sam replied angered with his brother's attitude.

"It's a shame." Dean said while walking inside the room. "Anyway, Archer can you please bring the beers as you close the door please? Also, in case you aren't happy with how Sam treats you, the old man downstairs is more than willing to meet you." Dean added jokingly.

Archer remained silent, she gestured her head as a sign to move forward and then suddenly out of thin air a boar appeared, passed his horn through the six pack's handle and carried it inside the room.

"Wow! Wherever I go today I meet wildlife. First the jaguar and now this. What next, I wonder?" Dean said jokingly.

Archer entered the room, still pointing her drawn bow at Dean's face. "Sit there!" Sam ordered Dean as he kicked a chair towards him.  
Dean sat down obediently "So, what do you want here Dean? Here to spout threats at me again?" Sam asked him angrily.

"It was you at the first place who suggested to kill Shirou, remember? I just said I will protect him if that happened." Dean defended himself. "How could you even propose to kill someone without knowing if he's a threat or not?"  
He stretched his hands boringly and let out a yawn. "Anyway, I came here to finish that conversation we had yesterday."

Sam still pointing his gun at Dean replied  
"There's nothing more to discuss. I thought we had agreed on that much. You seem to be happy to be a witch's slave, but I'm not. Neither as a brother, nor as a hunter. I offered you my help and you turned me down, all that's left for me is to kill you, so your soul won't be enslaved anymore."

Dean sighed.  
"See that's the problem Sam. You see only the surface of the problem, there's much more at stake here Sam than my soul's freedom. How about the thousands innocents that live in this city?  
Or Crowley running around with his servant? You never know when and where he will strike again."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked half confused, half angry.

"Don't you remember anything about what I told you last time?" Dean sighed frustrated.

"Setting Crowley aside, I do remember you told me something about two other servants you fought and they kicked your ass. Why is that my problem exactly?" Sam asked him.

Dean rubbed his nose awkwardly.  
"Yes I admit it, I did get my ass kicked by those two! But in my defense, they were crazy strong, even with all the power I have now I can't even compare to them."

"Get to the point Dean, you didn't seriously come here all the way to whine?" Sam asked in a tight voice.

Dean cleared his throat and started talking.  
"First of all the, reason I fought them was to protect myself and the others around me. I never went looking for a fight. Secondly, can you imagine what would happen if those two monsters were to run amok inside the city- I'll tell you what would happen, it would be the end of this city!" Dean paused and took a breath.  
"I don't want them gone for any personal gain—I want to get rid of them because they are a dangerous bunch who possess a threat for many innocent lives."

Sam pondered for a moment and gave his answer.  
"What about their masters then? Can't they stop their servants anytime they want with those magical seals on their hands? I remember reading that those seals can force the servants to do anything, even if they don't want to. Also, I don't think that any witch would be so crazy to destroy a whole city."

Dean scratched his head "Yeah…about that, we don't really know who Caster's master is, but he surely isn't a sane person, considering he sent his servant to attack random people in the city.  
Well, as for Berserker the news are bad. His master is a ghost, a witch's ghost precisely who was incredibly powerful while she was still alive and even more powerful now. She's just as crazy as any other ghost, but ten times more dangerous; she's not to be taken lightly.  
If as you said your hunter instincts tell you to kill me because I am evil, then what do they tell you about them?  
Do you plan on taking them on after you kill me right here or are you going to risk it and wait until they start killing people? I'm here to offer you a chance to help us save the city, nothing else."

But Sam was cautious.  
"How do I even know that all this stuff you're saying is true?  
How do I even know that you didn't make up all this, just to get my help?"

Dean pondered for a while and then spoke. "What if you saw the victims of those two servants? The first one had her heart almost chewed and the second one is now in grave condition, because she tried to save my life."

Sam's face shone as he remembered something.  
"Wait a minute, the first one, she wouldn't happen to be a young woman in her twenties who was attacked by something like a dog or a wolf inside a big mansion?"

Dan blinked surprised "Yeah, that's her. She was almost been chewed to death by Caster's pet dogs. But, how do you know it?" Dean asked curious.

"I saw it in the foreign news, back when I was still in USA. That was also when I saw a video footage in which there was you and the Impala. That's when I started looking into your death and one thing brought another and I ended up summoning her."  
He pointed to Archer behind Dean. "Then we left for Japan together and started looking for you." Sam lowered his gun a little.

"So, you do believe me now? Are you convinced that everything I told you aren't lies?" Dean asked.

Sam put down the gun and pondered. He was still cautious, but it seemed like his brother's words had finally gotten through him.  
"Let's say I believe you about the first woman. What do you have to tell me about the second victim?"

Dean took a small breath and explained him what has happened some hours ago in Einzbern's castle. "-In the end we escaped with some magic crystals, but Lancer and her pet had been gravely injured, especially her. As we speak, Rin, the girl who had been possessed by Crowley, is treating her and struggling to lift the death curse that had been placed upon Lancer by the ghost." He concluded his explanation with a sigh. "Can I have a beer now, my throat's dry?" He asked his brother.

Sam mechanically opened the freezer and tossed a beer to his direction. Dean grabbed it on the air and opened the cap with his thumb. Sam wasn't so defensive against his brother anymore, but still he wasn't totally convinced about his intentions. "And why exactly you need my help Dean? You already know that my servant is useless and me personally I don't think I can do anything against those kind of enemies." Sam boldly insulted his servant who all this time hadn't said a word.

Dean gulped down the beer and put the empty bottle down. "Why are you such an asshole towards her Sam? It's true, not all servants are as powerful as others, but no one can be so weak as to be called useless. I'm sure your servant has her strong points." Dean defended Archer who by the way was pointing an arrow at him all time long.

"You talk as if you know everything, ask her yourself if you think I'm exaggerating." Sam replied scornfully.

Dean turned around and looked at her "Care to explain what he said? Also…you do realize that you don't have to point this thing at me anymore!" He said as his eyes fell upon the sharp arrowhead in front of them.

Archer was hesitant at first, but Sam nodded her to stand down so she lowered her weapon. Her bright blue eyes stared at Dean for a few moments. "What Sam's saying is true. Currently I'm operating on about thirty to forty percent of my total power. It has been like this from the moment I was summoned. He has any right to be angry at me and call me whatever he likes; I can't blame him. We servants are being summoned in order to fight. A servant who can't be used to the extent of his abilities is considered weak, a servant like me who can barely muster any strength at all is practically useless." She replied calmly, admitting her impotence, despite having a chance to defend herself.

Dean scratched his head troubled. "I see, in that case we have to find a solution to that problem, before we go fight them. If we were to fight side by side one those servants in your current condition, you would probably hold us back and endanger the whole group."

"When did I agree on helping you?" Sam asked him annoyed.

"Isn't it obvious? I thought that since you entrusted me with your weakness we were already fighting on the same side." Dean said smiling as he approached the freezer and grabbed another beer.

The moment he moved, Archer raised her weapon at him, but Sam gestured her to hold it. "And how exactly will you help us?" Sam asked Dean.

"That woman, Rin should be able to tell you what to do. She's an excellent witch; and before you start complaining, I can assure that she's one of the good ones." Dean replied casually as he opened the second beer bottle.

Sam's eyebrow twitched as he heard the word _witch _"And the only guarantee that she won't cast her fancy magic on me are the words' of you? Her pet? Are you serious?"

Dean let out a long sigh "Crowley possessed her in order to trap us and kill us. If she was an evil witch he wouldn't have to possess her in the first place. He would just offered her some souls or something similar in exchange for her help. Is that proof enough of her alignment?" Dean asked, as he chugged down another bottle. "Besides, as I've told you time and time again, no one is forcing me to do anything, I'm doing this out for my own free will, the binding is only a typical procedure in this case. I'm a servant not a random soul that was enslaved against his will.

"Hmm…If you put it that way, I suppose it's true. I saw the whole scene, before I came to rescue you that night, she was indeed possessed. Very well then, I propose a truce for now, I will trust that you will help my servant reach her full potential and in exchange we will help you. But be warned if at any given moment I realize that something fishy is going on, I will personally put a bullet in your head, even if it is the last thing I would do." Sam stated in a strong voice.

"Don't worry, it won't come to that-It's official then, the Winchesters are back! Ready to kick ass!" Dean said enthusiastically.  
"Let's make a toast then!" He said as he tossed two opened beer bottles, one to Archer and one to Sam.  
"To our…wait! You should drink one too" Dean said as he looked at the boar who was lying on the floor bored. "Is it okay, if he drinks some beer?" Dean asked Archer.

"Of course not, he's war boar not a domesticated animal, I want him to be in top shap-Don't me make me that face Tusky, last time you drank alcohol, you destroyed the garden plants because you thought they were wild ferrets."

"Ok…then let's have a toast the three of us." He raised his own glass and said loudly"To our reunion and our future battles. Let's go kick their sorry asses for good!" The sound of glass bottles clinging echoed throughout the room. And with that symbolic action the siblings made the first step towards the renewal of their relationship.

* * *

**This is the updated version of the last chapter, when I started writing again recently I realised that I didn't like the old version, so I rewrote to my liking.**

**Feel free to review and comment on the story(plot, grammar, writing style etc). All reviews are welcome, even negative ones, as long as they are constructive.**

**Next chapter: Negotiations and preparations.**


	22. Preparations

"Yes-No we didn't—ok, ok, yes I'll call when I have more news. Good night Rider." Shirou ended his call and headed for the kitchen in order to prepare dinner.  
He opened the kitchen shelves looking for ingredients, but they were empty then it struck him. He had forgotten that since Tohsaka had just returned, her home would have no cooking materials._  
_He looked at the wall clock. _"21:40…there is a new super market nearby that's open until late. If I leave now I will be able to buy some ingredients to prepare something quickly"  
_Shirou exited the kitchen and started looking for his jacket. He looked all the over the living room, but he couldn't find his jacket.  
"Wait a minute, I know where my jacket is! I used it to cover Lancer's when I tucked her into the bed. That means, that it is still atop of her." Shirou gulped as he recalled Lancer's voluptuous figure.

He grabbed a light blanket from the couch and headed for Tohsaka's room and gently pushed the door open; the wooden door creaked at his touch. Inside there was Awilix covered with his jacket and beside the bed, her jaguar was sleeping soundly on the floor next to the bed. Despite her situation, it had only suffered minor physical injuries which Tohsaka could easily treat with her magic and potions, but Awilix had been damaged spiritually. That's why her treatment was so much more difficult than her pet's. And that's why Tohsaka was so focused on finishing that special potion and didn't want to be disturbed.

Shirou approached the bed carefully and quietly as he did before to change her cold pack.  
_"Why am I acting like this? I'm just going to take my jacket and be on my way. Why am I sweating?" _He wept the sweat off his forehead.

He stood beside the bed and looked at Awilix; he noticed that she was having a restless sleep, her breaths fast and ragged indicated that her condition had worsen since they brought her back. Shirou's jacket was lying atop of her chest, he watched it going up and down following her breasts' movement. He extended his hand and grabbed his jacket, he felt slightly embarrassed, because it seemed like he was taking advantage of her because she was unconscious. That's why out of dignity he closed his eyes as he pulled the jacket towards him and then placed the blanket he had brought with him on her.

He lifted his head and sighed in relief when he heard a voice from behind "Emiya-kun, what exactly are you doing with my servant?"

Shirou turned around and looked at the door where he saw Tohsaka standing, holding a vial with a green liquid. "Wait Tohsaka, it isn't what it looks like. I was just covering her so she wouldn't catch a cold." Her eyebrow twitched angrily.

"Servants can't catch a cold idiot!"

"Yes…I know, I only came to get my jacket and I just couldn't help leaving her uncovered."

She sighed "When it comes to you and helping others, you're unbelievable. You did the same exact things with Saber remember."

"Yes, but it was not on purpose then, I didn't know what I know now" Shirou answered flustered.

"As if now that you know you do any different." They both chuckled. "Anyway, please leave me alone now, because the spell I'm about to perform requires extreme concentration." He nodded at her and left for the supermarket.

Tohsaka took some small breaths to calm herself "Suku, how is she? Did the magic circle had any effect on her?" Tohsaka asked the jaguar, which growled in a tone that suggested refusal.

"I see… I had hoped that maybe since she's a servant, maybe a healing circle would be enough, but it seems that she will need to drink this in order to get well and I will have to keep chanting a spell until the drug takes effects or else the results will be really unpleasant and painful for her." Suku purred sadly, worried about his master. "Well, here goes…." Tohsaka bended over Lancer, brought the bottle closer to her lips and made her drink it slowly. Then she took out three bright green gems filled with her magical energy, she started chanting a cryptic mantra and a pleasant green glow lighted the room.

Time passed slowly as both Tohsaka and Suku were watching Awilix, waiting for a reaction from her. A muscle twitch, a grunt of pain, anything that would show them that the potion was successful. They waited a lot, the channeling spell Tohsaka was hymning was starting to take a toll on her body, having used all of her magic crystals, she started sustaining the spell with her own magical energy; her legs were trembling and she was sweating all over her body, yet she didn't even stop for a second the channeling and in the end there was a reaction. Awilix eyelids moved ever so slightly. At first Tohsaka thought she imagined it, but then she realized that her potion had worked, Awilix blinked her eyes a couple of times and looked around without moving her head. Her jaguar jumped on the bed and started licking her cheek, she smiled warmly at him. Tohsaka collapsed on her knees, exhausted from all this, she felt a like a heavy burden was lifted from the back of her head.

Tohsaka sighed relieved "You gave us a big scare there. I'm so glad you're okay. I would hate myself if something happened to you when it was me who sent you there." She said in a regretful tone.

Awilix let out some grunts of agony as she tried to speak "Urgh…No it wasn't your fault, I did something….argh…rash and I screwed up…it's m yfault for losing my temper." She took a short breaths and continued.  
"Guh…I put in danger Suku and the others with my behavior, I'm really sorry." Awilix said in an apologetic tone and her pet rubbed his face on hers as to say "It's okay"

Tohsaka calmed her down "Shhh..it's okay, don't strain yourself. We'll be having dinner soon, until then, rest! You can tell us everything there is later. Suku be sure to watch her, I'll come back later to check on you two" The jaguar growled approvingly.

Tohsaka went downstairs where she met with Shirou who had returned from his shopping trip and was sorting out the bags.

"Need any help?" She asked him casually. He nodded indifferently.

"Is Lancer okay?" He asked.

"Yeah…she came around and now she's resting. I think her recovery will be quick since the curse on her has been lifted, the healing circle will do the rest from now on." Tohsaka explained as she was placing a bottle of soy sauce in the fridge.

"That's good, I'm glad she's okay. I will thank her properly later for saving us from Berserker." Shirou replied flatly.

Tohsaka noticed his cold tone and spoke up "Look, I know I owe you an apology for my behavior earlier and an explanation for what I've done. Will you hear me out?"

Shirou looked her straight into her eyes, no matter how dense he usually was, their expression made him realize that she really needed someone to hear her out. "Alright, I'm listening" he said as he sat down on a kitchen chair.

It wasn't a long conversation, Tohsaka briskly explained him that the reason she decided to participate in the Holy Grail war was because of her role as a supervisor of the city; she said it was her obligation to protect the city and her friends, nevertheless, she chose not to tell him about her emotional breakdown earlier.

When she was finished, Shirou looked at her bewildered. "Why didn't you just said something before we went off for Ilya's castle? If we knew about it we would have waited for you to summon your servant and we would all have gotten there together. That way….".

"And we would all be dead by now. Tohsaka cut in. No one knew that the castle would be Berserker's lair and that his master would be Ilya's ghost. We would have been caught completely off guard as you and Dean did and there would be no way to escape without casualties. You managed to escape only because Berserker was taken by surprise due to my servant's arrival; and she stll got mortally wounded. Believe me if we all went there, even If I had a servant, it wouldn't make a difference. We would have probably died there or escape fatally injured only to die later."

Shirou gulped down, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came to his mind, then the doorbell rang. "Coming" he shouted startled.

"Who is it?" Tohsaka asked.

"It's probably Dean, he went out to ask his brother for help. Though, I highly doubt that his brother would listen to reason. Last time he tried to kill him, when Dean asked for his help." Shirou said as he walked towards the front door. The door opened and silence ensued as Shirou and Tohsaka couldn't believe that Dean had succeeded.

Dean noticing the awkwardness of the situation hurryingly stepped forth and made the introductions "Shirou, Rin, this is my brother Sam and his partner Archer. Sam, Archer this is Shirou and Rin." He said in a perky voice.

The first one to answer was Tohsaka "My name is Tohsaka Rin, I'm the magus supervising Fuyuki city and the one responsible for its safety."

"You are not really good at your job then, considering the city is in chaos." Sam replied arrogantly.

"Be nice Sam, it's not her fault the war's taking place in here. We are here to reconcile not instigate more trouble." Dean scolded his brother.

"Thanks Dean, but your brothers speaks true, it may not be within my power to control where the war takes place. It is my responsibility though as the supervisor to be prepared for any kind of trouble. I never would have thought that a Holy Grail war would take place in the same place for a third time and so soon after the last that's why I was caught unprepared."

Sam was slightly taken aback by her sincerity, but his answer was bold "Don't misunderstand my intentions, I'm not here to make friends with you. It just so happens that we have a common enemy who is very dangerous for the people of this city. This is also yours and Dean's chance to prove me that you are not what I think you are. Are we clear?"

"Of course, it is understandable to have your suspicions. You are a hunter of the supernatural after all, I can understand why you hate magic so much. I won't try to change your opinion now, but I can promise you that you will have my outmost support and trust during our cooperation, as long as you can promise me the same, all I want is peace for this city and to ensure the safety of my friends and family."

"See! I told you she's different. Nothing like the witches we've met in the past." Dean said to his brother. Sam snorted.

"You can sit in the living room, while dinner is getting prepared. We can discuss any details later." Tohsaka gestured them to come in.

"I'm not here to eat dinner with you, I just want to know how we can stop those servants and also to help me with my servant's problem, Dean said that you would be able to help."

"Archer has a problem? And why do you think that I would be able to help you?"

Dean stepped forth "I told them that you can help." He said flatly, Tohsaka gave him a chilling glare.

"The problem is that my servant is useless as she is." Shirou stared at him angry, but Sam ignored him and continued. "From the moment I summoned her, she said me that she was unable to use her abilities to the full and she didn't know why."

Tohsaka and Shirou exchanged glances as f they were seeking each other's confirmation. "What is it? Do you know something?" Dean asked them noticing their reaction.

"You are exactly the same as Emiya-kun ten years ago, totally clueless and with no idea as to where you have gotten yourself into. On the other hand I don't really blame you for not knowing, Emiya-kun was supposedly a magus in the previous war and he didn't even know the basics of magic."

"Watch your tongue witch! And tell me what's going on! " Sam answered unfazed to Tohsaka's sharp comment.

Dean seeing that the situation was growing tense interjected and split the two sides "Sam, Rin is here to help, try to be cooperative and don't provoke her. The same goes for you Rin, my brother has some trust issues at the moment, please don't add fuel to the fire."

"If I may have a word" Shirou stepped forward. "Tohsaka is not holding back her words as usual, but she's right Sam. I was like you in the previous war and my servant had a lot of trouble, because of my incompetence. Archer's weakness is due to your inability to provide her with magical energy."

"Magical energy?!" Sam asked surprised.

"Exactly! Servants use it to sustain themselves in the physical world and it is our responsibility as masters to provide them with the appropriate amount in order for them retain their physical form. This way they can use all of their magical energy to fight. In your case, since you don't supply your servant with sufficient magical energy, she's forced to use her own and for a spirit that is a strenuous task." Tohsaka eloquently explained.

"And why for a spirit who has so much magical power is hard to sustain its physical form and for me a human with almost no magical power at all is easier?" Sam asked.

"That's because the master gets the additional magical energy he needs for sustaining his servant from the commands seals which are provided by the Holy Grail for that purpose and only."

Sam clenched his fist tightly and looked down on the drawings on his hand "It's hard to conceive that a simple tattoo has so much power. Let's say it's my fault, what are our options right now? How can I provide her with more magical power?"

Tohsaka looked at Sam and Archer thinking her next words, after a long pause she gave her reply "Considering the fact that we don't have time for complicated and time consuming methods, there is only one way for you two to quickly become a proper master and servant duo….Sexual intercourse!"

Except for, Tohsaka and Shirou, everyone else in the room were flustered. Sam and Archer quickly exchanged surprised glances; she lowered her head embarrassed and looked away. Dean was staring at Tohsaka with a look that was saying "Are you serious?!"

"Ha...You're kidding, right? You're asking me to have sex with my servant in order to power her up?" His tone was more agitated than before.

"I know it sounds preposterous to ask something like that out of the blue, but yes transferring magical energy through sex is the easiest way to do it." Shirou said.

"You're both witches, right" Sam pointed at Shirou and Tohsaka. "You can provide her with the magical energy she needs and she would be okay, right?"

"There is a way to form a temporal contract with your servant, but that will require the use of at least one of your commands seal and also a second person to provide the magical energy. The thing is both me and Shirou have a servant already and having to provide one more with magical energy would put too much strain in our bodies. That's why this is not an option."

"Tsk…" Sam cliqued his tongue.

"Seems to me that we have only one solution." Dean said.

"What do you think we should do?" Sam asked his servant. She and the others looked at him surprised, he had never asked her opinion as long as they were together.

"You already know what you need to know about me and why I'm against this solution. I won't do this unless your life is in danger or if you force me with a command seal. I'm sorry…." Archer spoke up.

The rest of them in the room were looking at them for an explanation. Archer looked at Sam waiting for his approval to speak; He nodded. She stood up and took a deep breath. "The reason Sam objected to your initial suggestion is because of me-My real name is…Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. Are you familiar with my myth? Or should I tell it to you."

"I am, but I still don't understand why you can't do it if you want to?" Tohsaka asked.

Archer cleared her throat "I will have to start at the beginning then. As I said, my name is Artemis, I'm the daughter of Zeus and Leto, I have many names, but Artemis is the one I was given at birth. The reason for my refusal, is something that happened at my third birthday; that day, I had a talk with my father, I asked him to grant me certain wishes and I told him that if he would grant me these I wouldn't ask for anything else in the future, he agreed. Among those gifts my sylvanwood bow, the golden stag and my assigning as the goddess of childbearing and hunting were the most important that were given to me as I grew up. And finally I had one last wish that I wished to be granted before all the others and it was granted to me the same day I asked it; that wish was to always remain a virgin, so I could focus without distraction to my tasks." Archer completed her narration.

Shirou and Dean felt that they should say something, but they couldn't find anything to say. Tohsaka broke the silence "So, after so many hundreds of years you're saying that not even one time, you didn't have to the natural urge to be with someone? How did this happen? Some magic had to be involved, right? " Tohsaka asked her out of professional interest.

"You're right, it is unnatural for a living creature to live without the urge for sexual activity and the desire for reproduction, no matter how hard someone will try, the desire will always lurk there….the desire to feel someone other's flesh on yours, the desire to feel his breath inside your mouth, the desire to feel the tingles of pleasure as he connects his body with yours; and that's where magic came in." Archer sighed sad as she was recalling that day.

"My father, once I declared my wishes called my sister Aphrodite who is the goddess of love and asked her to remove her shackles from me. Those shackles were the magic that were binding me to all these desires. She removed them on one condition; that if I ever was to fall into temptation, the shackles would come to bind me again and I would be forced become a slave to her and do anything she wanted me to regardless of my own will, that was when my rivalry with my sister started. Anyway, with the shackles removed, it was up to my own willpower in order to resist any temptations I came upon. My devious sister of course tried many tricks in order to make me her slave, but all came to fruition. So now you understand why I cannot proceed with what you're asking me to do." Her voice was apologetic.

"I-I am going to make….some tea for us, I need some time to think alone…Sorry" Shirou said and left the room in a hurry.

Dean sighed frustrated "This is a mess! I think I need a drink, Rin do you have any scotch?" She showed him with a wave of her hand the case where she kept her drinks.

Tohsaka looked at Archer with a serious look "I have to admit that last slave part was pretty disturbing even for me. I knew that your sister didn't have such a good reputation in greek mythology, but this is low even for her." She stated boldly.

Then Archer said something unexpected "You're wrong! She may be a cocky, arrogant, cruel, sneaky, devious, vixen who finds contentment in messing with the lives of mortals or gods, but there is an important thing that I was taught by her. Never give up control! Do anything in your power to be the master of your life! And that's how I live my life up until now. I wonder if I was wrong….  
The thing is I didn't understand it at first, but that wish of mine really hurt her pride as the goddess of love. It was the first time that a god had broken free of those shackles, not even Zeus himself, neither the ancient Titans, nor the even more ancient primordial forces of the universe had once been free by the shackles of sexuality. No one, except for me, I was the only one who was free and I was the only one she hated the most just for that. When I realized it, I tried to reconcile with her, but with no success, in the end I gave up the effort and I started hating her as well and as years passed I had almost forgotten about her existence, up until now at least."

"I'm sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable, I didn't know…" Tohsaka tried to apologize.

Archer shook her head. "It's not your fault, you were just trying to help."

Dean filled two glasses of scotch and walked over to Sam. "You knew about all this?" He asked him in a low voice as he passed him the glass.

"Most of it, first time hearing about that slave part too. From the moment she told me her name I knew exactly with who I was dealing with. And when I asked her about her story, she hardly said anything that's when I understood that something was off." Sam answered as he drank from his glass.

"And that didn't bother you in the slightest? Weren't you afraid of being close to such a woman? Weren't you afraid that she might kill you, just because you were a man in fear that you would rape her?" He asked worried in an even more low voice than before.

Sam frowned "I think you're forgetting that I'm still human, even if I wanted to I couldn't'. Anyway, to tell you the truth, at first I feared for my life, so I kept a close eye on her, but to be honest she seemed to completely ignore me. It was as if something else was bothering her and when I asked she didn't say anything." *

Dean took a big gulp from his drink and continued "So, the reason you were being an asshole to her when we met you was because of that?" he asked as he leaned on the wall.

Sam played with his glass a little before answering "Partly, but things took a turn for the worse when we arrived here and started the investigation; she kept making the simplest of the mistakes and when I asked her again if something was bothering her, she still didn't say anything, that pissed me of course. So, on every occasion since then, every time she made a mistake my anger got the better of me and I let rip on her."

"I see." Dean said and left, after he gulped down the last of his drink. He approached the others and asked "What now?"

"We don't have a choice, but to proceed without their help." Tohsaka answered, Sam heard her and rushed to object.

"Wait a minute, when we came here we were told that you would help us. And now you're simply giving up on us. There must be something else to try, right?"

"Tell me Sam, are you familiar with the magical process that takes place in your body when you try to cast a spell." Tohsaka asked him with a serious face on her.

Sam looked at her clueless "What? How the hell do you expect me to know that?"

"Exactly, that's why there's no other way for you to help your servant. Another option was to teach you the basics of channeling your mana into someone other, but that can't happen without first teaching you the basics of magecraft. If we had time, it would have probably been possible, but our battle is a battle against the clock as well. I'm sorry to say this, but I will have to ask you to leave this to us and stay uninvolved for both yours and your servant sake." Tohsaka rejected him calmly.

"We're not powerful enough for you, so we're useless, that's what you saying, right?" Sam shouted angry at her.

Tohsaka answered louder than before. "Look here, I'm trying to protect you… where we're going isn't like anything near the monsters you've encountered thus far; we're taking on the ghost of Ilya, a powerful magus and her servant who is ridiculously powerful. If you came along with us, you would just be a burden and a liability!"

Sam snorted "And what do you know about our past witch…I should have seen that coming; asking a witch for help was a bad idea all along." Sam turned to face his brother. "What about you? Do you think that I am a liability too?" He asked Dean.

"Don't act like a ten year old who dropped his ice-cream Sam, this is not a competition…. I don't want you to endanger yourself. I'm already dead, so I can fight with no fear of dying, but you…you have a whole life in front of you. As your brother I don't want you to drag you into the grave along with me."

Sam's eyes widened as he heard his brother's response "As if you never did it when you were in my position. Would you back off if you were me?" He remained silent after that.

Dean sighed "Yes….I would, despite the danger, but that's me you don't have to be like me."

"I'm not trying to act like you, it's who I am as well, I want to save people and I want to help you fight these monsters even if that means that I will put myself in danger. Besides, this isn't my first rodeo, I know a thing or two about survival."

Seeing that Dean wasn't objecting Tohsaka cut in "Wai…you're not seriously thinking into bringing him with us. You know that Archer won't be able to keep up with you against Berserker and Sam can't even use magic. How is going to help?"

"You said that the master of Berserker's master is a ghost right?" Sam asked her.

"A ghost and a powerful magus too." Tohsaka answered him coldly.

"When you referred to her you mentioned her name, are you perhaps familiar with her?"

"Yes, she was a friend of mine and Shirou, but she died in the last war."

"Did you bury her remains somewhere where you faced her last time? Or is there anything left of hers there?"

"Ah yes…I've been meaning to ask you that question as well, if she's a ghost as we suspected then we have to destroy whatever's binding her soul into this world, so that she may find peace." Dean added.

Tohsaka was boggled for a moment after hearing that. "What are you talking about?"

"Just answer us the question Rin." Dean prompted her to speak up.

"Me and Shirou buried what was left of her body in the garden in the interior of the castle, can you explain me now why does that matter?"

Dean explained the behavior of ghosts and the way to exterminate them. Tohsaka after hearing that was bewildered. In her whole magical career not even once she had heard about this, all the people she knew used magic to kill ghosts. Her face changed many expressions as she came in agreement with that idea. "I apologize for whatever I said before Sam. After hearing this I believe that you may be the decisive factor that will affect how the battle goes against Berserker and Ilya."

"I assume you have a plan, since you're saying this Rin."

"Indeed, I'll explain it to you after dinner, Awilix will joins us too. So….I guess you'll be staying now for dinner Sam?" He nodded at her and they proceeded in the dining room.

It was a little past midnight, when they had finished with their dinner, Tohsaka made sure to bring some food to Awilix, who claimed that she was feeling better and went downstairs to meet with the others. The men of the group were briefly mesmerized at the sight of Awilix descending the stairs in her skimpy outfit jumping from one step to another perkily; a pretty loud cough from Tohsaka snapped them back to reality. Awilix who knew Berserker personally told them all she knew about his abilities and techniques and based on that they formed their battle plan.

Time passed quickly. it was around two a.m. when they were done with their plan. "Everyone get some good rest, because tomorrow evening will be tough. You are welcome to stay here for the night if you want there is enough room for everyone." Tohsaka announced to the group.

"We'll be returning to the motel, I have some things I want to prepare as well." Sam answered and gestured to Artemis to follow him.

"I see, then I will be expecting you here tomorrow afternoon."

"We'll be here!" Sam reassured her confidently.

"Wait, let me drive you to your hotel." Dean offered them a ride.

"No, it's okay. I want to talk about something with my servant alone! We'll call a taxi." Artemis looked at him surprised at his reply. She wondered what he wanted to discuss with her.

Dean gawked for a moment, but snapped out immediately "Definitely, we'll be seeing you tomorrow afternoon then."

"Yeah, definitely!" Sam answered as he walked outside, Dean could swear that something was bothering him from the expression on his brother's face, but he decided to remain silent.

* * *

***Refers to chapter 16 where Artemis recalls her fight with her brother Apollo where he died and Thanatos came to take his soul. His death was the reason she joined the war.**

**So here's the new chapter at last. As you may notice sometimes I tend to use the servants first names and sometimes their servant' class' name. During narration, I decided to use their first names only if they have been introduced to the main group (Shirou, Tohsaka, Dean, Sam) before. During dialogues each person will keep referring to them according to his personality. For example Shirou refers to other servants by their class name and to his own with his first name.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **

**Next Chapter: Hard Rain**


	23. Hard Rain

**Author's note: I'm using a new writing style in this chapter, where I describe the story from different point of views to make the scenes better understandable. I don't just narrate the first half of the story from character A and the second half from character B point of view. I go like this, person A…third person….person B relives A's part from his perspective…third person…etc.**

**I mention this, because if you read it without knowing you may be confused. I would also like to ask for opinions on that matter, if you liked this technique or if you didn't and why. Thanks, enjoy the story!**

* * *

The following day, Tohsaka and the group met again to finalize the details about yesterday's plan. They had agreed to take the fight to their enemies and assault Einzbern's castle tonight. Awilix had told them everything she knew about Berserker's skills and abilities and based on that information they devised a plan to counter him. They had decided to take him down in one single coordinated attack and not give him the chance to recover from his wounds with his healing rain ability. They gave their plan the code name "Gravity Surge". Sam had agreed to help them, but he and his servant wouldn't participate in the battle, their role was to break into the castle and burn Ilya's body. Archer could conceal her magical energy enough not to be detected and Sam since he had no magical skills to begin with, just had to stay out of sight since Ilya could not sense him.

Thus, the night fell upon the city and the group departed from Tohsaka's mansion. They rode on Dean's car except for Awilix who rode her jaguar, because she realized that she was suffering from car sickness when the car started moving. Dean parked the car just outside the forest and they continued on foot. Everyone was tense and nervous during their one hour walk to the castle.

Finally, just before they were out of the thick forest they stopped. "Ok, now we'll go first and distract her long enough, so you can sneak in. Remember, the body is in the central courtyard under the big tree in the middle of it. You can get to the courtyard from a side door which is located at the base of the central hall's stairs. Be careful and don't take unnecessary risks." Dean warned his brother.

"I'll be okay, just focus on the battle." Sam reassured him then he nodded at Artemis who followed him into a small pathway which would lead them securely closer to the front door.

Shirou, Dean, Tohsaka ans Awilix waited for a minute and then they walked outside the forest grove and walked towards a clearing, where the magnificent castle came into view. Its tall tower's pointy roofs shone dimly under the moonlight. A strong gale of wind blew and a whistling sound was heard in the vicinity, as a result of the air passing through the broken walls and windows of the castle. A fifty meter distance separated them from the castle's entrance. They all stood for a moment and stared at its four roofs, then their eyes focused on the two figures in front of the main entrance, except for Dean who gave a quick glance to the place his brother was hidden. They slowly walked towards them.

When they were into hearing distance the smaller figure greeted them. "Good evening, Shirou, Rin, Dean and Lancer. To what do I owe the honor of your sudden visit?" Ilya greeted them politely and smiled childishly.

She had taken her human form. She "wore" or more precisely appeared before their eyes in her casual clothes, the ones Shirou and Tohsaka remembered her wearing when she was alive. A purple wool hat atop of her silver hair, a white scarf wrapped around her neck, a mauve silk coat buttoned with two series of silver buttons and a pair of thick leather boots.

"You know full well, why we are here Ilya? So, let's save ourselves some time and get this over with." Tohska answered provokingly at her.

Ilya put on a sad face "Why all that hostility Rin? What did I ever do to you to make you dislike me?"

Tohsaka clenched her left hand in a fist and prepared to throw a spell at her, but Shirou grabbed her by the shoulder. "Wait! I have a question for you Ilya? Why do you do all this? You aren't an evil person, why do you want to hurt us that badly?"

"Shirou…I told you already there's no use reasoning with a ghost." Dean cut in.

"Maybe…but I still want to hear her part of the story, she's a friend of mine and I owe her that much." Shirou replied to him.

She smiled evilly "Oh…I'm touched by your words Shirou, but you should listen to your servant from time to time, I'm a ghost now and the urge to destroy is just too much to resist. Believe me, I was asleep for ten years resisting the urge, but when that sudden surge in magical energy fell upon the area and the servants were summoned, I could no longer contain my desires….I will kill you…yes…Rin, Sakura, Taiga too and every person alive in this city. You want to know why? Because I feel like it…hahahahaha!" Ilya laughed hysterically and then fell silent when she looked in front of her.

Tohsaka reached for Shirou's shoulder who was trembling, she thought it was out of sadness for Ilya, but when she saw his face, she realized that she hadn't seen him so angry since the last Holy Grail war. His face was dark and expressionless. "Shirou.." She said softly.

He calmly shook off her hand from his shoulder and projected a bow and arrow "Tohsaka, we end this tonight…." He said in a calm, but decisive voice. She nodded back at him and readied her spells.

"I can't say I don't admire your fighting spirit, but as you said it ends tonight, you're not fighting only Berserker, but me as well. I suppose a victim who shows no resistance is no fun." She moved her index finger forward and four black beams were shot to seek out and destroy her targets.

Seeing his master attack, Berserker clenched his gigantic axe and charged at the enemies in front of him. Dean and Awilix both deflected the beams with their weapons and started moving in a circle in an effort to surround Berserker. Dean from the left, Awilix from the right, the giant indecisive who to target first focused on the enemies in front of him and went for Shirou.

"No you don't bastard!" Dean shouted as he threw the First blade at him, it dug inside his flesh, not deep enough, but enough to distract him from going after them.

Tohsaka quickly smashed a blue gem on the ground and an energy field covered her and the surrounding area, protecting both her and Shirou from Ilya's attack. Shirou realizing that Berserker was coming for him charged his bow and calmly aimed at his head, not moving back even an inch. When the giant turned around to see what hit him from behind, Shirou released the shot and a full powered Caladbolg hit Berserker at the back of his head.

Awilix noticed that Berserker was dizzy from the last attack and quickly rushed for the follow up strike, she jumped above his head and she sank her spear inside his left collarbone, Berserker roared furiously purple lighting struck the area around him forcing her to jump off his back, before she had the chance to slash him any further. Dark clouds gathered above Berserker's head and shortly after that rain started falling on him and his wounds began mending.

None moved they stopped moving and watched as the rain fell upon Berserker, he himself didn't act either he observed the enemies around him while waiting for his wound to heal. He couldn't form a plan to attack them, because he wasn't capable of rational thinking; nevertheless his tactics were solid, based solely on survival and hunting instinct, observe your prey and attack when you're ready. Ilya noticed that something was off with their behavior, so she took action.

"You think petty tactics work against Berserker? No matter how hard you hit he will always come back?" She mocked them as she unleashed a flurry of black lightings from the sky.

As soon as the first lighting struck the ground, Tohsaka smashed two blue gems in front of her and a force field bigger and more powerful than the last arose and protected her and all of her allies from Ilya's spell. The black lightings kept crashing upon the blue energy field and dissipating shortly after. The rain around him stopped and Berserker all healed up now threw his axe with enormous force aiming at Tohsaka, ignoring the energy field surrounding her though. The axe collided with the energy field causing it to crack upon impact and crash when Berserker teleported to it and struck the field with and overhand slash.

Shirou immediately fired at him a quick shot to get his attention, but with no success, Berserker was determined to kill Tohsaka who was standing no more than three meters from him. She gulped as she saw the giant charging at her.

"Suku now!" A voice echoed from behind Berseker.

Suku appeared out of thin air from Awilix's spear's tip and ran lighting fast towards Berserker, a crescent moon appeared on his forehead and his eyes glowed white. Suku came crashing down on Berserker who lost his footing and tripped from the impact; Suku bit him from his ankle and using the momentum from the falling, sent him flying where he remained momentarily as if he was weightless.

"Now!" Everyone shouted in unison.

Awilix spear glowed white "Stop!" She shouted and a pale silver rope extended from the tip and ensnared Berserker's body. "Gravity drop!" She yelled as she swung the spear downwards.

Berserker helpless to do anything, was smashed on the ground in hypersonic speed breaking most of his bones due to high acceleration and damaging his cordial spine. As soon as he hit the ground, Dean jumped up on him and stuck his machete and the first blade deep into Berserker's chest, puncturing his left lung and slashing major arteries near his heart without damaging it critically.

"Do it Shirou!" Dean yelled as he jumped away from Berserker.

"Ex—calibur!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. A radiant light appeared from the legendary blade which instantaneously travelled from him to Berserker and exploded upon impact, brightening the dark castle and the forest around it.

"Hargh…that should do it." Tohsaka said panting in fatigue.

"Do you think that was enough to bring him down? Or will he come back again?" Shirou asked as he was trying to catch his breath.

"It should be, his body was subjected to an acceleration equaling one thousand G*, he got stabbed in the heart and lungs and after that he took a direct blow from a projected Excalibur which was formed using both our magical energy. There's no way he can…"Tohsaka cut her sentence short as a drop of rain fell upon her bare hand.

"What the…." Dean shouted, but the thunders' roar covered his voice, he looked above and saw Ilya floating on the night sky, high above ground, with her hands spread out, she was chanting some kind of aria.

"Quickly! Someone stop her!" Tohsaka screamed at them.

Dean immediately drew out his gun and fired at her, but the bullets were deflected as if they were nothing. "Shit!" Dark clouds gathered around Ilya clouding his vision. "I have no vision…" Dean said.

"Moonlight charge!" Awilix gave a specialized command at her jaguar, he covered himself in a silver light which was apparently the effect of a gravity spell similar to the one which let him fling Berserker up on the air before; it allowed Suku to become weightless. Awilix mounted him and he started running upwards at an incredible speed.

She was almost within reach to use her gravitational power again and bring Ilya down as she did with Berserker when a black lighting from above struck Suku who after a brief shock started falling down like a rock. She immediately jumped upwards above the clouds using her pet as a springboard, she hated herself for kicking her friend down at the ground, but it was the only way to reach Ilya in time. The rain from before had already transformed into a storm.

Ilya turned around and looked at the upcoming enemies "Die! Insects!" She yelled and lighting was shot from the clouds below her —"Grrr….you're persistent…" Ilya clenched her fist which started glowing red.

"Gravity dro—What?!" She only managed to get a quick glimpse of it, but from what she saw, it was a brilliant crimson axe slightly smaller than the one Berserker held, it flew right past her before she could react at lighting fast speed and the next thing she saw it was her spear falling down in the dark clouds, instinctively she tried to extend her right arm to grab it, when a hot liquid splashed on her eyes blinding her.

She opened them forcefully "Huh….ugh…my arm!" Awilix screamed as overwhelming pain travelled throughout her body. The magical axe had chopped off her right arm and now thick red blood was spurting all over the air. Her body went limp from pain, she lost control of her gravitational power and started falling down, while bleeding out.

"Dean! Quickly, kill Berserker before she can revive him." Shirou shouted at him.

Dean leaped on Berserker and started slashing through his chest with the two machetes, unfortunately only the first blade was strong enough to harm him, he gripped it with both his hands and repeatedly stabbed Berserker in the chest, blood spurted on his face, but he didn't hesitate and pushed the blade as deep as he could, still the first blade had reach a little more than a kitchen knife and Berserker chest was at least two palms thick. Despite cutting off so many major arteries causing him serious internal bleeding, it was uncertain if he had pierced his heart.

"_Bam_—What the hell…?" Tohsaka's eyes widened as she turned around "Oh no! Shir-_Bam_" Tohsaka's feet collapsed under her weight, despairing in front of the sight before her.

Shirou and Dean instinctively looked where the noise originated and were left speechless, Suku was lying down, burnt to a crisp, but what was really horrifying was Awilix, her arm had been chopped off and she was bleeding out rapidly painting the soil underneath her red while screaming in agony. Meanwhile, the storm had reached its zenith, the sky flashed white and Ilya's figure appeared from within the clouds.

"You see now, that's the difference in our power. Rest in pieces!" She yelled and laughed maniacally.

"Guh-" Berserker swung his muscular arm above his head and knocked aside Dean who was taken by surprise and rolled over the ground a short distance.

Berseker slowly rose to his feet and stabilized himself using his axe. His fatal wounds were mostly healed and the cracked bones were mended. He pulled out the two blades from his chest and two streams of blood burst from his chest, but the rain quickly healed the wounds. He lifted his head and looked around, the sight of his despaired victims filled him to the brim with bloodlust. He raised his axe high above his head and shouted, his roar was now more like maniac laughter and it was louder than ever before. Several lightings struck the axe charging it with electrical power. After a brief delay, he smashed the axe on the ground and a fearsome thunderclap echoed throughout the battlefield.

Everyone's ears were buzzing "What was that? Tohsaka, Dean are you okay?"

"I can't use my magic!" Tohsaka shouted panicked.

"What?!-Damn it! Me too, I can feel my magic inside me, but I can't call forth any magical energy. What the hell did he do?" Shirou asked worried.

"We can't stick around any longer. He'll kill us. We have to retreat." Dean said.

"But where? We can't run back into the forest with all that mud, he'll catch up to us in no time." Shirou replied.

"To the castle! It's our only safe choice for now." Dean gestured them to run.

"What about them?" Tohsaka pointed at Lancer and her jaguar who were lying on the ground behind her.

"I'm sorry Rin, but we have to save ourselves first, we can't help them now. We are his primary targets, we have to lure him away from here."

"Tsk… You'll pay for that ghost." She muttered to herself as she clenched her hand tightly and dug her nails inside her flesh; without another word she started running to the castle with Shirou.

"We'll come for you. I promise." Dean mumbled quietly, looking at Awilix and Suku. Then he started running.

"Berserker…leave nothing behind." Ilya whispered softly and the giant grabbed his axe and chased down his victims.

"Faster!" Dean yelled from behind as they were approaching the castle door.

"Slaughter them!" Ilya screamed hysterically from afar.

Berserker stopped on his track and threw his axe with incredible strength "Oh shit! Duck!" Dean shouted and everyone fell to the ground as the axe flew through past their heads.

"Damn, I still can't use my magic." Shirou mumbled.

A bright purple flash lighted the night and in the blink of an eye Berserker appeared before them staring at them with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Stand back!" A voice came from above.

Dean saw a big shadow felling from the sky landing atop of Berserker's head knocking him down and immediately after that a hail of arrows struck Berserker on the back.

Dean squinted and he saw that at the top of the tallest tower of the castle there was another figure standing. "It can't be…" The figure jumped and after a brief delay it landed gracefully on the ground, it was Artemis and her boar.

"Why are you here? Why aren't you with Sam?" Dean shouted at her.

"Be quiet! Go take care of Lancer, I got this." Artemis replied at him boldly.

"I asked, where is Sam? Why did you leave him alone? Don't tell me…"

She ignored him and as Dean made a move to approach her she shouted angry "He's alright. Get the hell out of here, this is not a place for you. This is a battle between gods now."

"Who the hell does she think she is? Barging when I was about to kill you. Berserker! Leave the others, go all out at her now." Ilya's ghost hand glowed red and one command seal disappeared. Berserker now enhanced by the power of the command seal created just above his head a storm cloud which poured rain on him and only him, creating a pool of mud around him.

"Humph…Tusky we're going all out too. Prepare yourself." Artemis commanded her boar.

"You can't take on Berserker alone! This is madness!" Tohsaka shouted at her.

Artemis chuckled "Madness?!—This is the wild hunt!" She raised her hand high, a green light appeared which grew larger in an instant. The light surrounded, Artemis, her boar and Berserker, when it seceded there was nothing left at their place.

Artemis looked around nostalgically "At least, I have the chance to admire for one last time this lush green forest, before our war destroyed burned it to the ground…Strange! Everything is exactly like I remember them, the sights, the sounds, the smells…even the touch of the ground is the same. I wonder if it was because of my love for the forests and hunting that I was given this power when I became a servant." A loud shout from deep inside the forest disturbed the peaceful forest, she looked at the direction of the sound.

"I should focus, I may have the advantage here, but I won't be able to sustain this Reality Marble for long." She knelt and put her ear on the ground. "Tusky, follow me from a distance." She looked straight ahead and smirked "It's you and me now beast!" She hopped on a tree and jumping from branch to branch arrived at Berserker's location.

Berserker was in disarray, the trees around him were broken in half, he was walking around in circles maniacally swinging his axe and roaring wildly like a caged beast, he had no idea how he ended up there and he couldn't find his target his master ordered him to kill. Artemis' eyes locked on Berserker, observing his moves while planning her attack "His movements are pretty straightforward, I can easily keep up with him and evade his axe; my arrows will probably be able to pierce his skin, but I don't think they can kill him with that constant healing cloud above him…unless, hmm…._Breath in_…_Breath out_…Let's do it!"

A triplet of arrows struck Berserker on his chests, his eyes noticed a shadow on the trees beside him, with a single swing of his axe he cut them down, but there was no one there, three more arrows hit him in his back, and another three on each of his legs, and three more on his abdomen, Artemis was always one step ahead of her enemy, she kept moving around at a speed which Berserker couldn't keep up with, hitting him in his blind spots inflicting lacerating wounds thanks to the thorny edges of her arrowheads, yet his personal rain cloud kept him healed all the time.

"Gaaaargh!" Berserker screamed furious and charged at her.

"Urgh" A reflexive barrel roll saved her from losing her head. "He's quicker than I anticipated, it must be the command seal's power."

Their eyes met and they sized each other Berserker driven by bloodlust and instinct knew that his enemy was weaker than him in terms of strength and that he only had to close the gap between her and fight her in close quarters combat where he knew he had the advantage. On the other hand, Artemis needed to remain at a long distance and keep shooting at him, or at least that's what he had figured out that it was her intention.

She smirked satisfied "Got you right where I want you! Tusky, attack!" Her boar running along the path of destroyed trees Berserker cut down while chasing Artemis came crashing down on Berserker at full speed. The impact was catastrophic for Berserker, his body was impaled from the boar's only intact horn which penetrated his chest and came out of his back covered in blood and Berserker's intestines. The giant howled in pain, even though the rain was falling on his wound it was unable to heal since the horn was still inside his body.

"Pin him down!" The boar following his master order smacked Berserker on the ground and thrashed him, its horn destroying his innards and spilling blood all over the ground.

"Die!" Artemis cried out as she stretched the string of her sylvanwood bow aimed towards the sky. A bright arrow was released and travelled up high until it was out of vision and seconds later it a flash appeared on the sky and the arrow came down with the force of a meteor, piercing Berserker's skull from side to side and exploding afterwards; what was left at its place was a deformed mass of burnt flesh and gooey blood. The raincloud which was created by Ilya and empowered by the magic of the commands seal was still active, its rain was falling gently on Berserker lifeless body, washing his dead body from his blood.

"_Sigh…_Even he can't come back from the dead. My shot left nothing, but lumps of flesh—Argh…I guess I used too much of my magical energy, I can't sustain this forest any longer." She closed her eyes and took a last deep breath of the fresh air. When she opened them again, both she and Berserker were back where they were before they teleported. But the situation had changed unexpectedly.

* * *

This battle is nearing its end. What will happen next?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

**Next Chapter: **Why can't the rain stop?

* * *

**Updated Servants stats and abilities.**

**Class**: Berserker| **True Name: **Chaac the Mayan god of rain

**Strength** A+  
**Endurance** A+  
**Agility** A-  
**Magical Energy** B+  
**Luck** D  
**Noble Phantasm** B (A normally) degraded due to mad enhancement.

**Noble Phantasm:  
****Storm Caller****:** Chaac uses the lighting axe given to him by Bolon Dzacab god of lighting to create an instantaneous lighting storm in an area around him also disrupting the mana flow of the surrounding enemies rendering them unable to cast any spells for a long duration. Since he was summoned in Berserker class, his mad enhancement skill is preventing him from reaching full potential of his ability and only disrupts the mana flow without creating any lighting.

**Other skills: **

**Refreshing Rain**: The healing rain falling from the cloud can heal any physical wounds at an increased rate no matter how fatal they are, it cannot resurrect him from the dead though. Due to his mad enhancement skill, Chaac is unable to fully control this ability and is only able to create big rain clouds that dissipate after a while. That's why the group waited for the rain to stop before they attacked him commands seals used by Ilya to give him a permanent cloud, basically gave him full control of his ability.

**Thunder Surge: **Chaac is normally able to transform his body into pure lighting allowing him to travel long distances immediately, but due to his mad nature he is only able to teleport on his axe which acts as beacon of power which he senses with his instincts.

From now on I will start writing the full character sheet for every servant as long as I have introduced their abilities in the story.


	24. Why can't the rain stop?

**PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE READING:** This first half of this chapter is taking place simultaneously with the second half of the previous chapter. Also, I'm using a lot that writing style I used in the last chapter. Describing events from different points of view without any transition paragraphs or sentences. I'm mentioning this because it may be confusing when the narrative perspective changes from time to time.

If you have any thoughts about that writing style, write them in a review, I'd like to know what other people think about it. I personally like it.

* * *

**Chapter 24**

**Why can't the rain stop?**

The weak green glow from Artemis spell instantaneously grew into a bright green flash which lighted the Einzbern castle and the dark forest around it, making it as if several spotlights suddenly turned on at max power and then blew a fuse altogether. Dean squinted his eyes, but he had to close them momentarily, because of the intensity of the light.

"What the hell? Is that the same Artemis as yesterday?" Dean mumbled.

The light subsided and at Artemis ad Berserker's place there was nothing, but blood and grass, probably from Berserker wounds inflicted by Artemis' arrows.

"Where the hell did they go?" Dean shouted.

"They were transported….to Archer's reality marble…I think." Tohsaka answered still rubbing her eyes.

"Reality marble?"

"It is basically a kind of magic that allows you to create your own little world where your own rules apply. Of course the more abnormal the place the more magical power it takes in order to materialize." Shirou replied.

"She was…different, I can tell, she wasn't the same person as last night. She seemed more determined, more…powerful." Dean said when suddenly Tohsaka jumped startled.

"Where are they? Where is Awilix and Suku? They were lying back there before Artemis used that spell." She shouted worried.

"I don't know, I had my eyes shut all the time. Don't tell me they are…" Shirou was about to finish his sentence when he saw Tohsaka's face on the verge of tears.

"No…they are still alive, I have my command seals….But I can't get in contact with her." Tohsaka said in a worried voice.

Dean interrupted her "It's not the time now Rin, we have bigger problems now." And pointed behind their backs where a small figure was fast approaching from the darkness.

"Stand behind me. My magic hasn't completely recovered, but I can hold her off enough for you to escape." Dean said as he stepped forwards and materialized his blades in his arms.

"No! We'll fight together. You saw what that monster did to my servant. You can't take her on alone, besides she has to pay." Tohsaka stared at Ilya's figure with eyes thirsting for vengeance.

"Tohsaka, you're not thinking clearly. What can the two of us do without our magic against her?" Shirou hopelessly tried to change her mind, but Tohsaka was already with her magic crystals' at hand.

"Here take this." She tossed him a green gem, Shirou grabbed it on the air. "It's infused with your magical energy, it's from when you were training in object's enchantment."

"What will it do?" He asked her.

"You don't remember the lessons? It will _insert _your magical energy in your body, which will unblock the magical circuits and allow you to use your magic again. Imagine it as if throwing water with high pressure inside a clogged pipe."

Shirou's face shone "You really are a genius Tohsaka!"

She smirked "I never thought that we would need it, it's a good thing I brought it along."

"Hum…guys, she's almost here, anytime now would be good." Dean said.

"Right, now Shirou! Swallow the gem." They both put the gems in their mouth and crunched it to bits. Normally, a gem like that would break their teeth, but since it was filled with magical energy, the gem was no more resilient than hard candy. When the gem was crushed the magical energy held inside spread slowly inside their bodies, reactivating their magical circuits one by one. They felt as if they were shocked by a small jolt of electricity.

"Get ready, here she comes!" Tohsaka said.

Everyone took their position, Dean in the front, Shirou and Tohsaka behind him to provide support. They were expecting to be greeted by a fireball or something similar, but instead the ghost remained still and looked at them "You've really changed from ten years ago onii-chan." She said in a playful voice.

"Don't be fooled, she's playing it innocent in order to catch us off guard."

"If I wanted to kill you mister I would have done it long ago, when you were chatting as If I was gone."

"Maybe you couldn't, that's why you approached us like that."

"From what you say, you sound as if we fought a lot these days. Did I sound like that when I was talking to you back then?"

"She's not the ghost from before!" Tohsaksa spoke up in serious voice.

"What are you talking about? She's the same as before, she's just pretending. She's the one who injured your servant, don't forget that." Dean shouted in a strict voice..

"No, she's not, I don't know what happened, but that's the Ilya we knew. I can sense her aura, that ghost's aura from before was dark and corrupted; this one is the real deal; we can trust her."

"Thank you Rin, it's good to see you again." Ilya said in a happy tone. "I never thought I would get a chance to see you two ever again…." A sincere greeting. Ilya sounded wholeheartedly happy for meeting up with her friends.

"Ilya! What is going on? What happened here? Where is that….other you? Why are you fighting in this war. You're a ghost right?" Shirou bombarded her with questions.

"I'll try to answer at the best of my ability, I don't know how much time I have. And yes I am a ghost who became a master somehow."

"What do you mean that you don't have enough time?" Tohsaka asked her.

"Until Berserker is back into our world. I'm cut off from his influence right now and his madness is not affecting me, but when he comes back I will be back to that other me."

"Influence you? Can a servant really do that? You mean the reason you acted like that before was because of Berserker's mad enhancement ability?"

"I can't explain otherwise what happened to me? I would never hurt you two, not after everything we went through together." Ilya said in a sad voice.  
"Even if I was a ghost thanks to magic I was able to keep my sanity as long as I wasn't having too much contact with the outside world. That's why after I died ten years ago and after I realized I didn't move on, I put myself into deep sleep and remained like this until now."

"But, what happened to awake you and become a master?" Tohsaka asked her, Ilya shivered and looked away in fear.

"Ilya…"Shirou tried to approach, but she started speaking.

"It was horrible! What awakened me was something dark and terrifying. I woke up from deep sleep…or more precisely a strong surge of magical energy stirred my slumbering spirit and woke me up. Before I had any time to understand what that sudden overflow of mana was, I started losing my mind, I felt dizzy, angry, furious and then I was unable to control my temper and I began rampaging inside the castle, then I saw something…someone. He spoke to me I couldn't understand what he was saying, he was holding something in his arm…a weapon of some sort…. I could no longer think clearly my mind was in total chaos. Suddenly, the mysterious figure disappeared and at its place was Berserker. That was also the last thing I remember, Berserker standing in front of me and the command seals glowing in my hand."

"I'm not sure if I want to fight something that terrified a powerful witch like you." Dean said.

"I may be a powerful witch, but I'm still a little girl who is afraid of ancient spirits!" Ilya suddenly was back to her cheerful self. "Anyway, the thing is you have to kill me. For good this time!" She said nonchalantly.

"What?!" Tohsaka and Shirou shouted in a unison.

"You heard me! You have to kill me now! Before Berserker comes back and I lose my sanity again. If that happens I won't be able hold back." Ilya said flatly, suggesting that she really meant that.

"Wait! We may be able to help you now that we know what happened. You were caught off guard that time, but now you can be prepared. Isn't there any spell that will protect her from Berserker's influence? " Shirou asked desperately looking back and forth between Tohsaka and Ilya, hoping for a positive answer.

Tohsaka's face of pity was enough response for him "I'm afraid, we won't be able to see each other again onii-chan. I really…really wish, it would be different, but as it seems the universe doesn't want us to live together as family." Ilya was on the verge of tears, if she was alive she would have been crying already. Shirou approached her, his eyes teary and hugged her. Even though his arms went right through her, he kept them connected behind her small back.

"We must hurry, we don't know how more it will be until he comes back. Ilya, please close your eyes, I don't want you to see that..." Tohsaka said in a low calm voice

"Wait! You'll have to burn my body. My spirit is completely immune to magic."

"What? What makes you say that? Also, you already knew about the burning the body technique?" Tohsaka asked her surprised.

"Tsk… Rin, ten years have passed and I still know more than you. Anyway, I don't think that whoever awakened my spirit wanted to leave it unprotected, that's why he put protective ward on it. My spirit right now is immune to any magical means. But fortunately for us he forgot about my body. That's why it has to be fire. You must go inside and retrieve my body and burn it."

"You mean this body?" The front door opened and Sam came out holding something on his hands. It was Ilya's body. Her body was covered in the tatters of the Heaven's feel dress which had lost its powers now and was nothing more than a simple clothing. Her skin was white as milk and her hair had their usual silver glint, you couldn't tell that she was dead, she looked as if she was unconscious, of course that happened as a result of the preservation magic Tohsaka cast on her remains before she and Shirou buried her.

"Oh? I see you already had sent someone inside to take care of it. Thank you mister!" Ilya approached Sam and bowed before him.

"What the hell? Aren't you supposed to be our enemy?" Sam uttered shocked.

"Relax Sam, she's on our side for now." Dean calmed down his brother.

"How are you so sure? It's a ghost after all."

"I know, I had my suspicions at first, but you didn't see what I saw, she's our ally. By the way what took you so long? You were supposed to infiltrate the castle with Artemis, dig out the body and burn it, so we could get rid of the ghost and consequently weaken Berserker. And now, Artemis is gone to some world she created and she's fighting Berserker alone and you're here with the girl's body. What's going on Sam?"

"I'll explain to you later, as for the body it took us so long, because we couldn't burn it, not even with holy oil. Since we were delaying I sent her outside to help you until I could figure out something, but I couldn't. When I stopped hearing noises, I took the body and came to meet you." Sam explained to him in a rush.

"It's natural that you couldn't burn me since you did it inside the castle." Ilya popped up.

"What do you mean?" Sam tilted his head questionably.

"This castle still has protective wards in its interior that shield me my body from minor physical wounds. Sela insisted to cast them when we arrived here in order to prevent any household accidents. The castle was in ruins when we first arrived after all. She and Leysritt always cared about my well-being and never took any risks." Ilya said in a nostalgic voice with a small smile on her lips.

"That means if I put fire on it now, it will burn, right?" Sam asked her.

"You catch up quickly mister!" She replied jokingly and chuckled. "Now, we've already said our goodbyes so you can go ahead and…hum?"

A bright green flash like before lighted the area. Everyone looked at the source. It was Artemis and Berserker, they were back and by the looks of it Artemis had won against him somehow. But their celebration was only momentary.  
"Oh no! It's starting again…..argh...quickly….gah…burn…it…." Ilya fell on her knees screaming in agony as she was trying to resist the mad urges from Berserker.

"What's going on?" Shouted Artemis.

"Berserker is still alive!" Shirou said in a despaired voice.

"But I killed him…" Artemis heard grunting behind her, she turned around terrified only to see her _dead _enemy rising up again, but unlike her he had enough magical power to kill her ten times over.

Quickly, he's influencing Ilya's mind we have to kill him now or…." Shirou's was cut short by an otherworldly voice right behind him.

"Too late onii-chan!" Ilya had already transformed, her appearance had changed as well. She was looking like the first time Shirou and Dean met her in the castle. Pale gray skin, bloodied eyes, ragged clothes and disheveled hair which had lost their silver glint and were now just a grayish color.

She pointed her finger forward and a strong shockwave sent them flying towards Berserker's and Artemis' position. "I told you, it is useless to fight. No matter how much you damage him he will always regenerate as long as water is being poured on him. You should have destroyed the cloud I gave him, before trying to kill him. Now, let's not waste any more time, Berserker, finish them now once and for all!" Berserker whose head was a disgusting mass of blood and meat a moment ago was now standing grasping his axe ready for battle.

Berserker's eyes were set on Artemis who knew by instinct that she was the greatest threat of them all. She quickly realized his intentions and retreated away from the others in order to keep them away from danger. Berserker threw his axe at her, she saw it coming and ducked, but as the axe was passing right above her he teleported to it and with an overhead two-handed swing he smashed the ground barely missing her left arm which slightly extended forwards.

She took this opportunity to back away and fire arrows at him in quick succession, they all found their target which was his head, but none of them was enough to stop his rampage. Artemis had no time to charge up a stronger shot and he couldn't rely on her boar for help this time, the mana required to sustain him in physical form was much more than she could spare at the moment. So, she decided to use it otherwise.  
"Try this!" moved her hands gracefully and three green lights whips snared him. The first whip ensnared his hands forcing him to drop the axe, the other his legs and the last his neck, causing him to suffocate.

Berserker cried in pain as the vines were shattering his bones and the water was healing them and all over again, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't break free from the vines. It seemed that the cloud wasn't getting rid of his fatigue, it was only healing his body wounds. Berserker was struggling to untangle himself, but it was pointless the vines had already bound most of his body. She took this opportunity to finish him, she drew the string of her bow to its maximum extent and began charging her shot with her remaining magical energy, She was hearing fighting noises from behind her, but she could not turn around to see what was going on now. It was now or never.

"Gurgh….my head….damn, I'm bleeding…" Sam said, grunting in pain, he had hit his head on a rock after he was sent flying with Ilya. He looked around and saw that the rest were in similar condition. His vision was blurry, but he shook his head and it cleared up a little, he tried to focus on something; his eyes fixed on his servant, her distinctive red hair made it easier to focus on. She turned to look at him and the others and then at Berserker, they exchanged glances and she knew what she had to do. She lured him away.

"Shirou! Rin! Are you okay?" Dean shouted worried. They were both unconscious due to the impact. "Damn…Sam we need to burn the body. Berserker is influencing her mind if we severe their link between them he will be weakened; if he loses his support we should be able to kill him even if it's the three of us." Sam nodded.

"The body was knocked off my hands when she blasted us away…aha, there is it!" Sam pointed with his finger the location. They ran to it.

Sam opened up the can with the salt and poured all of its content on Ilya's body, the body was still covered in holy oil and gasoline from his previous failed efforts so he only needed a lighter for the ignition. He reached for his inner pocket "Watch out!" Dean shouted and shoved his brother down. A dark beam flew right above their head. It was Ilya.

"Well, well, you know that if you play with fire you might get burned...by me" She extended her arms and two heat beams were shot from each one. Dean deflected them both with his blades, but unlike the first blade which survived the blast the steel AC/DC themed machete didn't and melted on his hand. He tossed it away before the hot liquid metal burned his hand.

"Sam, burn the body, I'll keep her busy." Dean shouted while lunging at Ilya with the first blade at hand.

Sam didn't lose any time, he picked up the lighter from the ground and went straight for the body. Ilya knew she couldn't stop so he commanded her servant. "Berserker, don't let him burn my body. It's a command!" her hand glowed red and another command seal was consumed.

Berserker's body glowed purple, electricity surged through his veins, the temperature of his body rose dramatically in an instant, it burned the vines, he stood up with his axe in hand and prepared to lunge at her. Artemis was shocked to see he escaped, but he didn't stop her attack.  
"A little more…." She muttered, she looked him in the eyes, but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were fixated elsewhere, she took a small glimpse of her surroundings and then she suddenly realized that his target wasn't herself but Sam, her eyes widened in fear as she realized her mistake. Berserker leaped on the air and using the momentum from the fall he performed a spin attack, strong enough to slice a human in half.

"Sam! Watch out!" Dean yelled from afar with thunderous voice.

Sam heard his brother's warning and quickly raised his head, he saw a gigantic shadow on the sky above him falling down on him; it was Berserker going for the kill. He turned on the lighter and tossed it at the body's direction, but he didn't move, he knew it was too late to try and dodge his attack, he knew there was no way to escape from that, he knew that his time had come, he closed his eyes and waited, those seconds seemed like centuries to him. Suddenly, he was regretting his recent actions, how he treated his brother and the others who were only trying to help, how narrow-minded he was at the beginning and mostly how shitty he treated his servant who in the end was his greatest ally from the beginning, he felt that he betrayed her; He was wondering what would have happened if he had trusted her from the beginning. "_What if…_argh!_"_ Sam groaned in pain and then everything blacked out.

"Grgh…" Sam grunted in pain. He was suffocating, his chest was on fire and he couldn't take single breath, he was gasping for air when he started coughing, he spit out blood, he started taking small breaths from them mouth, so he wouldn't fell unconscious from lack of oxygen. Every breath he took made his chest hurt even more, he coughed again and spit out more blood. He instinctively tried to move his legs to flee, but he couldn't feel his lower half body and from the top body he could feel his head throbbing, his heart pulsing like crazy and his lungs burning hot. He slowly opened up his eyelids, his vision was blurry, he looked downwards without moving his head, his eyes quickly fixated on something striking, red color. "_It must be my blood….I guess, I don't have much time until I bleed to death." _ He closed his eyes again, he could hear screams and voices from afar which he felt were coming from an ever growing distance as time passed and he was losing consciousness once again.

"Wake up!" Sam hear a breathy voice whispering him.  
"No! Don't close your eyes." The voice spoke again. He felt a movement on his chest which caused him to grunt in pain as something was pushing its weight on his chest. He realized that he surely must have broken most of his ribs.

"I can't let this end like this…not after that." The voice said, Sam felt a hot ragged breath on his face, he slightly opened his eyes and saw that familiar red color from before, his vision was clearer now. "Ar-temis…?" He said with difficulty.

Her crimson red hair who were normally neatly loose until her shoulders were now disheveled from the battle; they were falling on Sam's face stopping a few centimeters above his eyes. "Don't worry Sam…I'm here…guh…I won't…let it…end like this!"

Her voice was heavy, she was having difficulty breathing as well. She lowered her head, the tip of her hair gently touched Sam's face tickling his cheeks. She brought her lips closer to his, Sam could feel her heart beating fast as their chests touched, he could feel the sweet smell of her breath inside his mouth and the smooth feel of her hair as they touched his face. Their lips met, the warmth of her mouth sent a current running through his body. Artemis threw her arms around Sam's neck as she lost herself in the passion of the moment, forgetting everything about the battle around. They remained like this for a few moments she moved away from him and lied down next to him.

Sam regained consciousness once again, he opened his eyelids once again, this time his vision was clear, he could see the night sky and the moon above; He blinked his eyes a few times, the throbbing of his head was less painful and he could breathe easier now. He put his hand on his belly, he touched something wet, he stood up on his butt and looked downwards, it was blood, but it wasn't his, he had no visible wounds on him, except for the trauma on the head; besides, if he had lost so much blood it was sure that he should have died by now. He turned around when he froze in place from terror. "Artemis!" he yelled loudly as he knelt next to her.

"No! Nooo!" Artemis screamed in terror, when she saw Berserker jump. She instantly gave up on her attack and used the magical energy she had gathered to instantly run to Sam's aid, but it wasn't enough, she run as fast as she could, faster than a blink of an eye, but it wasn't enough; she shoved Sam aside knocking him several meters away, but because she was so focused on saving Sam, she didn't watch for her surroundings and tragedy struck, Berserker's axe slashed her right through her waist, cleaving her in half, her upper body which had hugged Sam tightly was sent flying at the nearest tree where Sam smacked his head on its bark, while her lower part landed a few meters away from them, blood was spurting all over the ground, Artemis saw that Sam was bleeding in his lower abdomen; Berserker's blade had went through her body and even slashed a part of Sam's a little lower than his stomach; it was a nasty wound that would surely kill him. She knew her hour had come, but he could be saved, so she decided to offer her master the last thing she had at the moment, her own life. She would pass her own remaining life essence inside him, she hoped that it would be enough to save his life.

"How? Why after everything I've done to you? Why did you do something like this for someone like me?" His voice was shaky and on the verge of the crying.

She didn't respond immediately, she could barely open her eyes, but she did after a lot of effort, she smiled at him warmly. Her smile was beautiful even now her eyes hadn't lost the spark in them. "Why? Do I need a reason to save my master? Besides, you helped me too, you liberated me with that order you gave me yesterday night. I knew why you chose to do it this way. I don't blame you, if anything I'm happy." She didn't stutter for a second, he voice was low, but clear. She was still alive by sheer force of will.

He grabbed her hands tightly and brought them together "I-I…am sorry for everything! I should have trusted you earlier, I should have tried to help you sooner…I should have been…the one lying down on the ground now, not you…" His voice was thick with emotion. His eyes were teary, a single tear fell on his cheek and another one soon after and another one, until he could no longer hold them back and let himself go. He screamed loudly, a yell of pain and sadness, same one as when his brother died on his arms as well.

Artemis was watching him from below, she could no longer speak even if she tried, her eyes became teary as well, she caught movement behind Sam's back, two sets of black wings darker than the darkest night, he had come, Thanatos had come for her soul, it was time to go meet her brother Apollo at the other side.

"Fare…well." She muttered in a barely audible voice and closed her eyes. The black wings flapped and a dark figure quietly flew away quietly at the sky with all but one noticing its arrival and departure.

"No!" Sam shouted sobbing while still clenching her lifeless hands tightly.

"Sam!" Sam heard his brother voice calling him. He turned around. Behind him there wasn't only Dean, but Castiel as well, at that moment he didn't even care to ask why he was here or how he found them, both Dean and Castiel were looking him with sympathetic expression on their faces. He ignored them both as if they didn't exist.

"Why? Even though, I knew her for such a small period of time and I didn't even get to know her any better. Why am I feeling like this for her?! It should be normal for servants to help their masters no matter the cost. Then why can't I stop crying dammit? Why won't those tears stop already?! " Dean and Castiel not knowing what to say just stood there watching him crying alone and miserable, contemplating on his mistakes., until he passed out from exhaustion.

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**And that's the end of the end of it.**

**The story has officially reached its first milestone. Hope you liked it!**

**REVIEW and FOLLOW for more!**

**Next Chapter: Revelations**

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**True stats for Archer, the older ones were degraded due to master's incapability.**

**Class**: Archer| **True Name: Artemis the Greek goddess of hunting and forests **

**Strength** B+  
**Endurance** C  
**Agility** A  
**Magical Energy** B  
**Luck** B  
**Noble Phantasm** A

**Noble Phantasms: **

**Olympian hunting grounds:** Artemis' noble phantasm given to her upon joining the war. Artemis recreates the forests she used to hunt when she was younger and encloses herself and her _prey _inside. Due to her love for forests, mountains and nature Artemis' parameters receive a huge boost while inside the Reality marble, but aside from that, nothing else happens. Her opponent retains all of his abilities and skills. She couldn't use this at first due to lack of magical power.

**Calydonian Boar: **Her secondary noble phantasm. Artemis summons the spirit of the Calydonian boar to aid her in battle. The boar or Tusky as she prefers to call him can act independently or on command. His summoning doesn't require a lot of magical power, but his sustain does, thus she was able to summon him from the start, if only for a limited amount of time.

** Other skills: **

**Entangling Vines**: Artemis can forcefully grow from the ground up to three different magical vines simultaneously to constrict and strangulate her enemies. Creating more than three vines will result to a weaker vine than the rest.

**Mutlishot(passive): **Bows and arrows are Artemis' bread and butter. She learnt how to shoot a bow before she could talk. Her grand expertise with bows allows her to shoot multiple arrows with each shot up to three simultaneously or more if she uses a certain amount of magical power for each arrow above three.

**Vulcanic enchantments: **Hephaestus or Vulcan as Romans was often ordered by Artemis to create special arrows for her for the hunts. Explosive arrows, fire arrows, magical infused arrows etc. Since she became a servant. Artemis gained the ability to make those enchantments herself at the cost of some of her magical energy.


	25. Revelations (Part 1)

**Revelations part 1**

**At first I was intending for one single chapter, but it turned out way bigger than I expected. So, I'm publishing it in two parts**

**WARNING: This chapter has some sensitive content that may be inappropriate for younger ages. If you are feeling uncomfortable with more mature content I suggest you skip the first half of this chapter and read straight from the meeting scene.**

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"See you, later then. Take care!" Dean saw his Sam and Artemis off from Tohsaka's mansion. He still couldn't figure out why his brother had that troubled face on him, he was exhausted both mentally and physically and he wasn't in the mood to make any guesses right now. Shirou's word of advice that he should rest more came to his mind as he closed the door behind him; he found that idea pretty welcoming at the moment.

Sam and Artemis walked down the downhill road from Tohsaka's home in absolute silence. They reached a crossroads where they were supposed to turn left; Artemis was about to take the turn when Sam stopped.  
"Is there a problem?" She asked.

"-Eh?...no, let's keep going. Hmm…say, do you mind if we take a different route on our way back? How about we travel alongside the river until we reach the bridge, instead of going straight there? " Sam asked her.

"Well…I don't mind. But why?"

"I have something to discuss with you and I just thought it would be nice to learn a few more things about you, before our grand battle tomorrow."

"You mean about my abilities?" She asked baffled, surprised to be having such a casual conversation with him.

"Yeah, stuff like that." Sam replied indifferently.

They walked for about fifteen minutes, the road had taken them away from the inhabited area near the river separating old and new Fuyuki, they were walking alongside the riverbank, Sam ahead and Artemis a few steps behind, none of them had spoken since last time, the night was cloudy and there were no lights nearby, suddenly a strong breeze blew, messing up Artemis' hair, throwing tufts in her eyes. She stopped and searched the satchel she had strapped around her head and took out a gilded headband.

Sam noticing the fading sound of her footsteps stopped walking to see what was going on. He turned around ready to say something, but as soon as he did, his mind slipped away at the sight before him. The wind had cleared the clouds from the dark night sky, revealing the moon and the stars, Sam saw Artemis putting on her headband. He had seen that headband before and from time to time she would put it on, but that time was different somehow. He couldn't really understand why he found that simple action so distinguishing; was it her graceful white long neck which was showing off as she bent her head backwards or was it her flaming red hair falling gently behind her shoulders as she fixed her headband? Or maybe it was her slim flexible figure in her tight green clothes that put him in strange thoughts? He couldn't figure out which one was it. One thing was for sure though, he was feeling guilty about his past behavior and the thought of him being attracted to someone who he had harassed that way made him feel disgust for himself. Sam started having second things about his plan.

She blinked surprised noticing him staring. "Hum? Is there something on my face?" She asked bewildered.

Sam snapped out of his trance. "What…? No, no, I just forgot what was about to say." Sam replied in a haste. "By the way, is that headband special somehow? I've seen you wearing it a lot of times."

"Ah? That? That's what you were staring at? It's nothing in particular, just a decorative accessory I had since I was a kid. It doesn't hold any magical powers, it's just a memento form my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, she gave it to me when I was just a toddler, I didn't really wear it back then or even when I was growing up…I was so focused on being perfect at my role as the goddess of hunting and I considered such accessories unnecessary and useless."

"Yet you kept it, you could have thrown it away. That must mean something."

"Possibly, I don't know, maybe I just forgot about it until now, when the war started."

"The Holy Grail war?"

"No, not this one. I meant the war of my people. This war is just a means I'm using in order to bring my brother back to life."

"Wait a minute! So, you're saying that there is another war going on between gods?" Sam asked, surprised to hear such breaking news.

"There is, but you don't have to worry yourself with that, many wars between us gods have come and gone since times immemorial, humans never had anything to do with them though. Only gods interfered with mortals' wars not the other way around. That's a fact at least!" She reassured him, yet his gut was telling him otherwise, but he decided it was just an irrational fear, one the many he had at the moment.

"Artemis." He called her in a serious voice, she looked him in the eyes as if she was trying to guess what he was about to say. "I am sorry!" Sam said in an apologetic voice.

She blinked and stared at him puzzled. "What for?"

"I want to apologize, I have treated you poorly and you don't deserve that kind of treatment, not even in the slightest." He sounded sincere.

For a moment she didn't know what to say "-You don't have to, we didn't know what was wrong with me and you had all this trouble with your brother; you were emotionally frustrated, I know how the rules of this war are and I can understand your anger for not being able to-"

Suddenly, Sam snapped. "Why are you still so nice to me? You! The proud goddess of hunting who never bowed her head to anyone, why aren't you mad at me, why did you even tolerate all of this? You could have just killed me whenever you wanted to. I can't understand you."

She looked away distressed, she gazed at the calm surface of the river noticing the reflection of the moon on it. "Indeed, if I was my past self I would have done so from very first moment we met, but I'm not, I'm trying to change myself since then."

"Since when?"

"Since the day I killed my brother!" She said in a flat voice.

Sam's eyes widened and put his hand on his jaw thoughtful about what to say. "You killed him? Was it an accident?"

"No…"her face was grim as she recalled that dark memory. She turned her back from him "It was no accident, it was my foolish pride that killed him. I have been ordered to bring him back to my father's army since he had deserted, but when I found him, he refused to come with me and kept telling me to leave him alone and that he just wished to be left in peace. But I insisted and we disputed over this, yelling at each other, when he grew tired of it and called his chariot to escape, I attacked him, we fought for several hours and in the end I prevailed and that was also when I realized that I failed in my mission, I was tasked to bring him back alive, but his wounds were too grave and he succumbed to them after a while; it was sure fact that they would kick me out, so I didn't even bother going back instead I sought help from the rest of my pantheon who had left before me. My sister Athena told me about this war and how to participate, she helped me prepare and when you did the summoning ritual I responded."

Sam was left speechless. "I don't know what to say…"

"You can mock and curse me if you want, I deserve every single one of it for letting my pride and anger get the better of me and killing me brother."

"I would never…" he paused as he realized what he was about to say. "I'm sorry Artemis."

"For what?" She replied slightly irritated.

"For my past behavior and-."

"You're kind Sam, but I don't deserve it." She cut in.

Sam made a dramatic pause. "I'm sorry…"

"I've had enough! You know I may have acted foolishly, but I'm no fool. I'm sick and tired of this little charade!" She shouted and he radiant blue eyes locked on his.

He felt like her eyes could penetrate his skull and read his mind. He gulped down. "What are you talking about?" he asked hesitantly.

"Stop pretending!" She said in a demanding voice. "We both know what you're going to do next. To hell with those apologies, you didn't mean any of it."

"I-I didn't…"Sam tried to cover it up, but nothing came to mind. Then he realized it made no sense to keep pretending "When did you figure it out?" he asked her coldly.

"I had my suspicions when you told me to take a detour, but suddenly asking me all these questions about myself and that conversation with the others we had before about how to empower me, I was sure of your intentions." She said riled up.

"And…? You're going to stand and take it? No matter how much self-punishment you're going to inflict to yourself how can you possibly let something like this happen?" He asked her angrily.

"Just because I told you about my past, doesn't mean you know how I want to deal with it." She clenched her fists tightly.

"Sulking and self-punishment isn't going to work, I speak from personal experience." He shouted loudly at her.

"Oh…so being narrow-minded and secretive is better than that?" She said sarcastically. "You know nothing Sam Winchester!" she paused. "Now, go ahead and do what is it you're going to do. I don't care anymore about myself. Maybe, I deserve all of this after all." She fell silent and kept staring at him intensely.

"I don't understand the game you're playing or what do you think you're going to accomplish, but I have plan in mind and what I'm about to do is also part of it. I can't let thing tomorrow go out of hand because of me. That's why I wanted to at least apologize to you beforehand, because from tomorrow I don't know if we would be able to act as a servant and master again."

"…." No response, she just kept waiting and staring.

"By the power of the Holy Grail and the commands seals I've been granted I command you Archer, have sex with me!" Sam's hand glowed red and a command seal disappeared, yet nothing happened. He looked surprised.

Artemis hadn't moved an inch from there, she just stood proudly watching him, not even flinching. "What the hell?"

"Why don't you use the second one?" She said provokingly.

He cliqued his tongue angry that she was manipulating his actions, but he had no choice. "By the power of the Holy Grail and the commands seals I've been granted I command you Archer, have sex with me!" His hand glowed red once again and another command seal disappeared.

The second command seal seemed to have done the job. Artemis was starting to feel her lower region hot, the sensation spread to the rest of her body, a cataclysmic wave of sexual desire overflowed her. Her legs were trembling she could barely stand, she fell to her knees, sweating. She felt tingles in her chest and in her nether region, her nipples hardened underneath her tunic, she instinctively reached and pinched them from above the cloth, letting out a small moan.

Sam watched her as she was trying desperately to fight the effect of the command seal. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he knew that he deserved the worst possible punishment for inflicting that to a woman, but it was the only way for his plan to work. Yet, even after all this self-contemplation, when he saw her like this, he felt a bulge between his legs. He was disgusted with himself, but he couldn't back away now.

"Strip!" He commanded her.

She panted "Hah…hah...you wish. Why don't you do it yourself? Or are you afraid I will bite?" She said as she was trying to catch her breath. Her resolve at the time was admirable considering her situation.

"Damn it! Just do what I say!" He barked at her.

"Or else what? You will kill me after you rape me?" She replied in a mocking tone.

Sam's patience reached his limit, he threw himself on her like a beast and pinned her down; she couldn't resist his strength thanks to the command seal. He violently pulled her pants down, leaving her in her undergarments, she was wet; the command seal had caused her to produce bodily fluids despite her will. Sam didn't waste any time, he pulled down his jeans and underwear revealing his growing "desire" to her, she looked at it scared, she was about to lose the purity which she was protecting for eons and she could do nothing about it.

Sam's fingers touched her nether region above the cloth of her white panties, they became drenched in her erotic fluids. He pulled away the cloth, revealing it, her most holy body region, which no male human or god had seen it and lived to tell the tale, up until now that is. Artemis flailed around like a fish out of water, but her resistance was too weak, the power of two command seals had done a perfect job at subduing her. He held her hands down and kept her still while he brought himself closer to her; his tip barely touching her outer lips, then suddenly without saying anything, he did it. Artemis had just lost the thing she valued the most her whole life by some mortal, yet she felt neither anger nor sadness, she had a calm and serene expression painted on her face. Sam kept at it and after a while it was done.

"Artemis!" Sam yelled as he jumped off his bed.

"Sam!" His brother Dean rushed inside the room as soon as he heard his brother's voice, behind was Castiel and a strange woman in strange clothing, what struck him most was her mask which was covering all but her mouth.  
"You're awake!" Dean said relieved.

Sam rubbed his eyes and looked around trying to grasp his surroundings. His body was drenched in sweat, his hair was a mess and his arms had scratches on them and at the back of his head a bump was popping up. Where am I?" he asked in a low voice.

"Safe. We're in Rin's place. All the others have awaken a day ago, you were the only one who was asleep up until now." He explained him calmly.

"I see…wait a minute why are you here Cas? What happened while I was out cold?"

Castiel looked at him surprised "You mean you don't remember?"

"I remember that I was about to burn that ghost's body and then Berserker jumped up on me…Urgh…then, I…I lost consciousness? I guess? My memory is blank from that point…Wait! I remember Artemis calling my name…she was trying to tell me something. Where is she by the way?" He asked and looked at them for a response, but they remained silent.

Sam and Cas exchanged glances unable to find words to tell him the truth, then the woman who was with Castiel spoke "Your servant Archer died in battle while trying to save you. We found you crying over her dead body until you passed out." Her voice was flat, no emotion whatsoever. Sam froze in place when she finished her sentence.

"Damn it! Shut up!" Dean yelled at her, but she didn't seem to care.

Castiel looked at her annoyed and sighed "What have I told you Nemesis? There is the proper and the wrong way to say things. Why can't you hold your mouth in the most critical moments?" he scolded her; she scorned him and walked out of the room half puzzled, half angry with the treatment she was receiving.

Castiel ran after her. "We'll talk more later, in the meanwhile you two should catch up on what happened." He left and closed the door behind him, leaving the two siblings alone to discuss.

"Sam, are you okay? I swear that woman has no sensitivity. Two days now and…"

"She's dead isn't she?" Sam interrupted him.

After a short pause he re nodded. "We didn't think that you wouldn't remember you lived it second by second after all, maybe the shock was too great and caused your brain to forget all about it. We certainly didn't want you to remember it that way though."

Sam touched the back of his head, letting out a small groan of pain in the process. "Careful with that! Rin has told me to apply that cream on your head and the bump will go away in a day or two, it is certainly smaller than when we brought you here, but it still needs treatment."

"That bump…I remember what happened and how I got it. Berserker was about to slice me in half and then out of nowhere Artemis appeared and took the blow for me and we both hit a tree and then…then...argh…I remember a warm sensation inside my body and…then, myself crying."

"I'm sorry Sam, my hands were kind of busy at the moment, I didn't see what happened until after the battle where we found you in a hysterical state, crying over her."

"How did you defeat them in the end? And what Castiel is doing here?" Sam asked trying to change the subject.

"He and his servant were the ones who saved us, without them we would be dead meat."

"Wait, his servant? Don't tell me it's this woman? I thought she was just another angel." Sam said shocked.

"Indeed, she speaks and acts a lot like Cas when we first met him. Apparently you had left the books you read about the Holy Grail war all over the bunker. When he visited you and found your message, he studied them and ended up in summoning his own servant, though I'm not so sure if he thinks this was a good idea, considering how his servant turned out." Dean chuckled in an effort to lighten the mood, but to no avail.

"And how did that servant managed to kill Berserker and that ghost alone, she must be insanely powerful."

"Ah! So, you didn't see it?" Dean asked.

"See what?"

"The ghost burning to a crisp; after you landed on that tree her body was engulfed in flames." Dean explained.

"Ah yeah, I remember tossing the lighter to the body's direction probably all that holy oil and gasoline that had been drenched in caused it burst in flames even without direct contact with the fire. But what about Berserker? Even without his master he must have been quite powerful."

"True, he was, but thanks to Artemis who had weakened him significantly, Castiel's servant was able to kill him easily. By the way, why was she so damn strong? She looked as she was a different person. Her power yesterday was on a completely different level than it was when I fought her. What happened between you two Sam? Did you find a way to empower her and even if you did why didn't you say so?" Dean asked curious.

"I found a way to bypass the spell that had been put on her, but I shouldn't have done it."

"You mean the one that didn't allow her to engage in sexual activity?" Sam nodded.

"She fought Berserker, because she gained power, but it wasn't enough." Sam smacked his hand on wall angered with himself. "If she had never gotten that power, she wouldn't…" Sam's voice became shaky when he recalled the memory of his servant.

"Don't say that!" His brother scolded him. "If you believe that you make as if her sacrifice was for nothing, she died to save us, to save you, the man you who she had sworn to protect. She did all this for you, because she believed in you; so, don't you dare say that it was all a mistake from the beginning!" Dean said in a strict tone.

"Do you know that I forced her to have sex with me in order to increase her magical energy output" Sam lowered his face shamed.

It took some a few moments before Dean fully realized what his brother had just said. He didn't want to believe his own ears. "You…raped her?" Sam didn't respond, his silence was answer enough for him. Dean started pacing around the room.  
"Why? Why did you do that Sam? How could you have fallen so low?" He shouted at him.

"It was the only way to help her without triggering the spell that was binding her. The spell's condition was not to have sex with anyone on your own free will, it didn't say anything about being forced to. That's why it had to be that way…"

"For the greater good huh? Isn't it always? We always do that Sam, we do horrible things and then we try to justify them by saying it was for the greater good. How many time has it been now?" Sam said scornfully to his brother

"Did you think I wanted to do that? I was forcing myself on a woman for god's sake. It was my last resort. I know, it helped us, but I will never be able to forgive myself for doing that…But do you know what the worst part is? She knew my plan all along and she didn't say anything." Sam took a small breath and stood up from the bed. "We had a fight, before I…commanded her to do it. We argued about stuff and then she provokingly said to me that she knew about it."

"So, you're saying that she wanted this to happen? Why?" Dean asked annoyed.

Sam shrugged hi shoulders "All I'm saying is that she could have killed me any time since she knew about it, but she didn't.? This woman died saving my sorry ass Dean and I couldn't understand her, even a little. I'm such an idiot!" Sam shook his head frustrated.

Dean took a deep breath to calm himself down, he remembered all the moments between Artemis and Sam and her reactions came to his mind and then he smirked "Yes you are, because you can't understand the simplest of things. Now, let's get going downstairs. Everyone is waiting for us, to start the debrief. You might consider changing clothes, I brought you a change from the hotel, I also paid your bill, you'll be staying with us now….also, weep off that sweat, you stink like a rotten taco."

"Wait! What…? I wasn't finished with…" But before Sam was able to complete his sentence, Dean had already walked out of the room. Sam rubbed his head troubled "I wonder what he meant…"

Tohsaka's living room was lively, everyone was chatting and drinking tea which Shirou had prepared, while waiting for Sam. The voices stopped when they heard footsteps from above. It was Sam, he had changed his dirty clothes, washed his face and fixed his hair, yet it was apparent that he was still looking like a zombie. He was pale, with black bags under his eyes, with marks and scratches on his arms and face. He greeted the lot with a silent nod of his head and went and straight to sit on the couch beside Castiel.

As the host of house, Tohsaka had the right to speak first, she stood up. "Before we begin, I would like to thank Castiel and his servant Saber who helped us out of that tight spot."

"You don't have to thank me, it was all Castiel's idea, I was just following orders." Nemesis said flatly.

"What have I told you Nemesis? When they thank you, what do you say?" Castiel said like a parent who was teaching manners to his kid.

Nemesis sighed "Tsk…Sorry, you're welcome." She said unwillingly. Castiel nodded approvingly.

"Ahem… as I was saying thanks for that and also for taking care of my wounded servant, leading them to safety when you did and providing first aid to her and her pet. "

"You're welcome!" Nemesis popped up. Tohsaka smiled awkwardly at her.

"As I was saying, Awilix…I mean Lancer is inside a healing circle I prepared for her and pet, she suffered serious damage and lost a limb, as for her pet he suffered first degree burns, thankfully none of them are so serious that a heling circle can't mend and she has great healing powers too, so she will be ready for battle in a day or two."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't be of more assistance, if I had my grace I would have been able to heal her from the moment I arrived yesterday." Castiel said slightly guilty.

"You don't have to apologize, you already have done a lot for us, for me especially." Shirou suddenly spoke up. Castiel looked at him curious then his face brightened as if he understood what he meant, but he didn't say anything. "When Sakura was in critical condition they day of her operation, Dean said that he called a friend for help, yet none appeared. The doctors came out and said us there was no hope for her, yet she miraculously recovered somehow, the doctor said that Sakura must have a guardian angel. Thank you for saving Sakura's life Castiel, I will be forever in your debt."

Castiel didn't say anything for a moment, he was taken aback by Shirou's sincere words. "I...you're welcome" Castiel replied awkwardly.

"I think we can begin now. Unless you have anything else to say." No one spoke, but Sam.

"I have to say something." He stood up and Tohsaka gestured him to proceed. "I want to apologize for my past behavior to all of you for everything I've done and any insults I've said. My incompetence was what ultimately lead my servant to death. She gave her life saving mine and I'm not intending to throw it away. She fought for me, she protected me, yet all I did was to take away what was most precious to her. I'm a scum and I know it, but I want to help, I don't want her death to be in vain. So, I ask for your forgiveness and hope that you will accept my help." He looked each person in the room in the eyes and sat back to his seat.

Shirou was slightly shocked seeing him speak like this. He had a completely different image of Sam in his head. "Hmm…it's important for all of us to work together. I have no problem working with you."

Tohsaka seemed skeptical though "Sam, if you want to help us, from now on don't plan anything without telling us. While I can understand to a certain degree what you did and why, if you had told us from before we might have had a better plan and no one would had to die. In other words, I accept your offer of help as long as you stay clear with us."

"One moment!" Dean stepped forth, approached Sam and punched him on the face. Shirou rushed to stop him fearing that a fight would break out, but he blinked surprised as did the others in the room when they saw Sam's reaction.

He chuckled "You've gotten soft Dean!" he said as he rubbed his cheek.

"If you ever pull something like that ever again, you should consider a plastic surgery." Dean said as he backed off him

Tohsaka touched her forehead and sighed frustrated "Okay…and now that this is out of our way let us start. As you know, there are three major threats in this war, now that we've taken down Berserker, only Caster and Assassin remain. Since I have no prior knowledge with neither of them which one do you think we should focus our efforts one now?"

"I think we should find the demon first, we need to learn why he possessed you Tohsaka. Also, he may already be plotting something, it's essential to move before him." Shirou said.

"Even though I don't know about Caster, I know that Crowley won't be found unless he wants to or if we manage to lure him out. Right now we have nothing on him."

"I agree with Sam, it would be easier to track down Caster than Crowley unlike her, he can go back and forth to Hell whenever he wants. But she and her master are probably still in the city looking for an opportunity to strike."

"I too want to know, why that demon possessed me Emiya-kun, but I think Dean and Sam are right, we have better probabilities with Caster. What about you two?" Tohsaka asked referring to Castiel and Nemesis.

"We will help you with whatever you decide to do. But, have you thought of a course of action or do you have any idea where Caster might be?"

Silence followed his question, the answer to his question was painfully obvious "_Sigh…_Listen, while I was watching from the sidelines I did some research on my own or more precisely Nemesis did and she found out something interesting. Care to share with us?" Castiel prompted her.

"Of course, one day after we descended from heaven Castiel's secretary contacted us to ask if he's okay."

"Secretary?" Dean grimaced. Castiel made a sign, not to ask further.

"I told her to stick to her paperwork and not to worry about matters that didn't concern her. Apparently, Castiel didn't like my manners and on a fit of anger he told me to take a hike. I was bewildered at first, but I did as he commanded and went for a walk to the mountains." Dean tried to cover his laugh by coughing, unsuccessfully though.

Nemesis gave him a curious look and continued "I visited that old temple which is located on the mountain's side. Then a strange sensation struck me. The air smelled foul and by foul I don't mean the animals' feces that were scattered all around, I mean foul as of evil. The scent intensified the closer I got to the temple, then as I tried to enter, I was attacked. It was a wolf sentinel guarding the entrance. Probably one of Caster's familiars. I was tempted to force my way in, the familiar's power was nothing compared to me, yet I retreated, assaulting an enemy's stronghold without plan and backup, relying only on your physical capability is pure arrogance."

"So, according to Nemesis, Caster is holed up where the old Ryuudou temple is located. It's actually a very good hideout, isolated, and easily defended." Tohsaka said.

"We may have the advantage in this battle, she only thinks that Nemesis and her master knows about her location, she doesn't know that we're working with them." Dean said enthusiastically.

"I'm afraid you may be wrong Dean." Tohsaka said in a serious face. He turned to face her puzzled. She entered Tohsaka mode as Shirou liked to call it and started explaining "Ryuudou temple is a place very closely attuned to magical energy. Most of the leylines of the city pass underneath the temple, providing both an excellent magical power supply and a tool to scout the city for your enemies through the disturbances they cause in the leylines. You see when magical energy is unleashed close to a leyline it emits waves which subsequently can be traced back to the source and also the higher…."

"So, she will know when we're coming." Sam interrupted her. Tohsaka gave him a disapproving look, displeased that he cut her in the middle of her explanation, but Sam ignored her.

"Basically, yes." She said.

"Then, we're stuck with a frontal assault since a sneak attack is out of the question now." Dean said as he headed for the liquor closet.

"That's preposterous! You're not seriously thinking on attacking Caster head on? You saw what happened with Berserker and you supposedly had a plan then; it's suicide! Dean, Sam, you of all people should know why I don't agree with that." Castiel said worried looking back and forth between the siblings looking for an approving nod.

"We knew that our plan contained risks and we were prepared that something may go wrong. We decided that if it happened, to not to let it affect our future plans." Sam said in a serious tone.

"Not to affect you, but you were crying-" Cas cut his sentence in half when he realized that he was going to say something inappropriate. "I'm sorry Sam."

"Don't be, you're right, I let her death affect me more than it should and you fear that I won't be able to be as productive as I can on the field." Castiel remained silent.

"Cas, we understand you're worried. You two saved us and we are thankful for that, but you don't need to concern yourself about what will happen if we fail. We should focus on how to take her down and leave the backup plan for later." Dean tried to dissuade Castiel.

Tohsaka stood up from her chair and made eye contact with him. Her blue eyes met Castiel's. "Dean's right! It may seem crazy, but it is due to its simplicity that makes it a good plan. She would never expect us to show up in her front door; and surely not so many people at once. As for the backup plan, I swear on my pride as magus and protector of the city that whatever happened at Einzbern's castle won't be repeated." Tohsaka said in a reassuring voice.

"I'm with Rin" Dean stepped forth and backed her up with a glass full of scotch which he had just filled.

"Me too!" Sam raised his hand. "I know that I won't be much of a help, but I will do whatever it takes to bring that monster down! I can't let Artemis sacrifice go to waste." Dean noticed that his brother's eyes no longer looked like dead fish's. Sam had a glint in his eyes and an aura of confidence was radiating from him. Dean knew he was just acting strong and that he was not over Artemis' death, but he decided not to speak.

"I think that—Wait! My cell phone is ringing. It's Sakura's doctor! Please, wait a minute, I need to answer that." Shirou walked away from the living room and after a while he came back.

"What did the doctor say? How is Sakura?" Tohsaka asked as soon as he set foot inside the living room

Shirou looked pale and sick"…" He didn't say anything. He looked at her with a blank face.

"What is it Shirou?" Dean asked him worried.

"Did something happen to Sakura?" Tohska asked in a demanding voice.

"Yes….apparently, you will become an aunt Tohsaka!" His words were followed by brief moment of total silence and sounds of excitement soon after.


	26. Revelations (Part 2)

_Hello everyone! Sadly, there won't be any updates for a while, since fall exams have begun in my university and I will be busy studying among other things and I don't think I will be able to write anything decent under these conditions, I will resume once they are finished. In a months or so. Still, there might be an update in my other fanfiction since the chapters are ready and they only need editing.  
Anyway, enough about that stuff.  
GO ahead and enjoy the story!_

* * *

After the phone call Shirou received from the hospital, the group decided to adjourn their meeting for the time being. Dean drove them to the hospital, with Nemesis taking her spirit form since they wouldn't fit in the car otherwise. As soon as the car parked Shirou jumped off and ran inside to meet with the doctors. The rest followed after him in their own pace.

Castiel and Nemesis stayed back. "Nemesis, if you are to take your physical form, please use a normal civilian attire. Your choice of clothes is a little...weird to the average eye. We don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

"I understand. I will change immediately. I think I will wear something that fits this country culture. No one will notice me." Nemesis snapped her finger and she was bathed in a white light, her armor disintegrated, revealing her bare skin, not that she seemed to care about it. Once the light subsided her clothes had changed as Castiel requested, but not to what he expected to transform. She was wearing a full ninja outfit, black from toe to head with kunai strapped on her belt and a long katana on her back which had replaced her normal sword.

"What is this?" he asked her slowly, spelling each syllable separately to emphasize his displeasure.

"It's a traditional Japanese outfit. Does it look good on me?"

Castiel took a deep breath and exhaled to vent off his frustration "Please take off that outfit right away and change into something normal."

"What?!" She asked oblivious. "But ninja outfits are worn by many in here, it won't raise suspicions."

"Suspicions would be the least of our worries if people saw you walking around like this. Imagine all the children who would gather around wanting to take pictures with you." He sighed. "Please change into some business clothes and let's get going." She nodded, but her displeasure was obvious, she was clearly sad that she had to part with that outfit.

Shirou after finishing his conversation with the doctor joined the others who had just met with Rider. "Hey Rider." He greeted her casually.

"Hello Shirou! Firstly, allow me to congratulate you for becoming a father. When the doctors told me that Sakura's blood test indicated that she was pregnant, I couldn't believe my ears. I'm so happy for you two. " Rider replied with a smile.

"Emiya-kun, what did the doctor say about Sakura, do they know when she's going to wake up? Is the baby going to be okay?" Tohsaka asked.

Shirou shrugged his shoulders '"They are still unsure. They say that comatose people may wake up in weeks, months or even years and in the worst case-" He gulped down. "—but the doctors are positive she will regain consciousness, so we have to believe them. As for the baby, they said that it will be okay as long as Sakura's condition doesn't worsen." He lowered his head and clenched his fist. "What if Sakura never…"

Tohsaka grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Hey! Snap out of it! Sakura will be okay. In fact, right now I'm going to cast a healing circle around her to speed up her recovery." Shirou smiled faintly at her and nodded.

Rider who followed their conversation approached Tohsaka from behind and whispered something in her ear without Shirou noticing, unlike the rest of the group. "Alright, I'm going inside to cast the spell, please wait here. Or better you can go to the cafeteria and get yourselves something to drink; yeah, that's better I'll meet you there once I'm finished."

"Wait! I want to see Sakura."Shirou said.

"Uh…Shirou, I was about to change bandages to Sakura. And you know I don't think she would like you to see her like that. Let me and Rin finish up here and you can see her later when we're done." Rider cut in.

"I don't care about how she looks, I just want to see her." Shirou insisted.

Dean sighed "Come on Shirou" he grabbed and started dragging him from his arm away from the door. "Women will always be women even if they are unconscious they would want to look decent in front of their loved ones? Come on guys! The coffee is Shirou's treat for becoming a father." Shirou tried to say something, but Castiel and Sam who had caught on with Dean's intentions didn't let him and together with Nemesis they walked away from Sakura's room.

As soon as they were out of hearing distance. Rider turned her face at Rider and looked at her troubled "Why did you lie to him about the healing circle? You know that a healing circle won't help Sakura to wake up, a circle is only used for treating physical wounds." Rider said.

Tohsaka sighed "I know…it was wrong to give him false hope, but at this time it would be better to think positively don't you think?" Rider shrugged her shoulders. "So, did you notice anything curious about that thing I told you about the other day?" Tohsaka asked her.

Rider paused to think for a moment and then gave her reply "No, it continued as you thought it would. The stream of magical energy Sakura releases to the environment is still at the same levels as it was a few days ago. (*see chapter 18). But I don't understand why did you call me to ask that before you all came here? Does it have something to do about Sakura's pregnancy?"

"Hmm…at this point I'm not sure what to think. The pregnancy would explain the elevated external magical power levels if she was in the third or fourth month, but not so soon. And even then I don't think it would release so much, an unborn baby can only contain that much magical energy."

"Do you think that it has to do anything with the previous Holy Grail war?" Rider asked.

"I am not so sure, there are too many factors to consider. Tell me have you noticed any differences in the magical energy she sends you these days?"

"No, I haven't noticed anything odd."

"Hmmm…" Tohsaka frowned her lips. "Anyway, I will have to run some tests to see for myself. That's why I brought some tools from my house."

"You would perform tests on her? In that condition? What about the baby?" Rider asked in a strict voice.

"Don't worry, the tests won't even touch her, all I need to see is the flow of her magical energy."

"And how would you do that?"

"With this!" Tohsaka said proudly as she took a device with a lightbulb on it. Rider stared at the device puzzled. "Let me explain, this is a magical device which emits a light that allows the human eye to see the raw magical energy around him. With this I will be able to examine the magical energy Sakura releases and find what's wrong with it." Rider nodded.

They walked inside the room, locked the door behind them and closed the curtains. "Where did you get that? Does it run on electricity?" Rider asked curious.

"I bought in London, in a…uh-huh…place, that was selling magical trinkets on low prices." Tohsaka gave her a strange reply.

"Please Rin, don't tell me you bought it in the black market….again" Rider looked at her condescendingly.

Tohsaka widened and she blushed a little "I didn't! It was a nice little antique store in one of London's alleys in the suburban area. I swear."

"Uh-huh" Rider's face was telling that she was not convinced. "Let's say I believe you for now. I hope you remember what happened the last time you presented us that magical device for silk and smooth hair."

Tohsaka gulped down and touched her head unconsciously. "No, I swear, it's not from there. I tested it before."

"Good, because I wouldn't want to end up with longer hair than I already have and I don't think you would like to spend a month drinking that disgusting potion for fast hair growth like last time." Tohsaka sniveled quietly as the bad memory or more precisely bald memory came to mind.

"I will inject some of my magical power now in the device. I want you to observe the stream and try to find anything that seems out of place." Rider nodded.

"Ok, lights off, I'm turning it on…now." A spark flashed inside the lightbulb and then a soothing blue light lit the room. All around the room tiny white sparkles were floating. It was the commonest form of raw magical energy which could be found in the environment.

"Wow! Is this how magical energy looks like?" Rider said surprised.

"Uh-huh, pretty amazing isn't it? See, this red stream going up the ceiling. This is mine and this purple one yours. And this one…wait! What the hell?" Tohsaka said bewildered.

"What?" Rider asked and Tohsaka pointed at Sakura's bed "I'm no expert Rin, but I know that there should only be one of those. This is bad! You have to go tell the others, I'll stay here." Tohsaka nodded, she turned off the device and left the room

**Hospital's cafeteria.**

"So, do you have a name in mind for the baby Shirou?" Dean asked as he took a sip of his cup.

"Come on Dean, he just learnt that he's going to be a father." Sam replied.

A faint smirk formed on his lips "Actually, I was thinking about naming him after my late father's name if he's a boy and after Ilya if she's a girl. Of course I will have to ask Sakura's opinion too. And I'm pretty sure Tohsaka won't settle down unless she gets a saying in all this."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she will."

Suddenly, Nemesis decided to join the conversation. "In ancient Greece, parents used to give temporary names to their children and when their children reached teenhood they could decide if they wanted to keep it or not. I still remember arguing with my mother about what name I should be called. She insisted on Adrastia because that's how the Romans used to call me and because she has a preference to her Roman name Nox and wanted us to be alike, but I wanted to differentiate and so I kept my Greek name Nemesis."

Castiel blinked twice surprised. "That's might be actually the first time I learn something about yourself. I just thought that you were like my angel brethren; thinking solely about work and duty."

"Surely I'm focused on my job when I have to and I may overdo it sometimes, but I have my hobbies as well. I collect stuff." She said proudly.

"Really? What stuff?" Shirou asked.

"Nothing special. Just antiques. I don't like talking about my collection, because people say I'm weird." Nemesis said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

"_She's blushing! Now, I'm really curious about what her collection is_" Dean stepped forth. "Come on, tell us."

"Okay, but if you laugh I will cut you in half." Dean's smile faded, he couldn't figure out if she was telling the truth or if she was joking, nevertheless it was too late now. "Close your eyes, I will grant you vision inside the chamber where I keep my collections." Nemesis touched Dean's forehead and for a while Dean was out cold staring at the blank. "Did you like it?" Nemesis asked him happily once he came back.

"I…surely…it was very…unique and uh….fascinating." The others looked at him worried.

"Are you okay? You look pale." Shirou asked concerned.

"Sam, is it only me or is his expression like when that time one of his dates was a man who had sex change surgery?" Castiel asked in a low voice.

Sam chuckled "No Cas, it's not your idea. I wonder what your servant showed him."

Suddenly the cafeteria's door opened and Tohsaka came in "Guys! We have a problem!" Five heads turned to her direction "Follow me, I must show you something."

Tohsaka lead them back to Sakura's room where Rider waited impatiently. "Listen, I think I know why Sakura can't regain her consciousness."

"What?!" How is this a problem Rin? Dean asked.

"Let me finish. Remember when I told about you how Sakura's magical energy was unstable a couple of days ago?" Shirou and Dean nodded. "So, I decided to look further into and I found something."

"Why didn't you say something Tohsaka?" Shirou asked her slightly annoyed.

"Because I didn't want you to stress you without any real cause, you were about to go for Einzbern's castle for scouting and it wouldn't be good to be distracted; I wanted you to be focused on the mission. If I had found something suspicious I would have told you immediately, like I am doing now."

"But still…you…"

"Let it go Shirou! Rin tell us what did you find?" Dean cut in their conversation.

"Right, let me explain you what I did-" Tohsaka told them about the test she ran on Sakura.

"You still haven't told us the problem you know." Sam interrupted her while she was explaining to Castiel how magical energy release worked.

Tohsaka gave him an annoyed glance. "Yes…I was getting to it. The thing is every person should have only one kind of magical energy in his body, Sakura has two."

"But since she's pregnant shouldn't it be normal considering that her baby is also releasing its own magical energy." Castiel said skeptical

"No, it's too soon. It's not even in the fetus stage. Right now, the _baby_ is just a really small complex of cells. It doesn't even have form much less magical energy to release. Something else is going on. And it's serious."

Shirou who was quiet all this time spoke, his voice was surprisingly calm, despite the unexpected turn of events. "How serious Tohsaka? Is Sakura or the baby's life in danger?"

Tohsaka seemed thoughtful "Hmm...Short-term, I don't think so, I can't sense anything life threatening. Long term….I'm sorry even I don't know."

Shirou clenched his fist and hit his forehead in frustration "Damn it all!"

"Hey, we'll find a solution. Don't worry." Dean tried to conform him seeing him in such distress. "Cas, you healed her before. Can't you do something now?" Dean asked and Shirou looked at him with pleading eyes.

Castiel shook his head. "I'm sorry, but without all of my grace. There aren't many things I can do. What I did back then was only to stabilize her heart. It takes much more energy for a complete recovery." Shirou lowered his head disappointed as did Tohsaka and Rider.

"Maybe I can help." Suddenly, Nemesis spoke up and all the heads in the room turned to face her.

"What? How?" Tohsaka asked.

"I have good sense of smell. Each magical energy has a certain distinct smell, maybe I can track down its owner." Nemesis replied.

"That's like saying you can tell with your eyes closed who is who just by smelling the room." Dean stated.

"Eyes closed? But I am already blind." Nemesis said in a casual tone.

Castiel, Tohsaka and Sam didn't seem surprised unlike Dean and Shirou. "Wait you guys knew that she was blind?" Dean sked when he saw their unfazed expressions.

"What you thought I wore that mask for show? It is a symbol of my impartiality as a Goddess of divine retribution." Nemesis replied to him.

"She told us her name Dean, how can you not know the lore of one of the most famous Greek goddesses, Nemesis who smote all those who committed hubris." Sam smiled pompously as he recited Nemesis' myth.

"Huh? Maybe, because unlike you I have a life, well I had since I'm dead now, but you get the point. " Dean replied annoyed, Sam shook his head condescendingly. "So? How can you help us?" Dean tried to get back on topic.

"Since I am blind my other senses have developed much more to compensate for my lack of vision. If you let me focus on that magical energy I can lead you to its owner. If he's still in town, I bet I would be able to sense him or her."

"Just do it!" Shirou ordered her in a surprisingly loud voice. "Everyone, get out of here! Let her concentrate." He opened the door for them and waited until all have exited the room. Tohsaka on her way out smiled at him and patted him at the back. "Nice one!" She said as she blinked him.

They all waited outside the room until Nemesis was done with her job. The room's door opened and she came out "It is worse than we initially thought." She answered in clear voice.

Shirou gulped down "How bad is it? Is it life threatening?"

"No, as you said" She pointed at Tohsaka. "Her life is not in danger for now. But the problem lies elsewhere. "There is a parasite!" She made a small pause. "It lives inside her and it is eating away her magical energy. I know that the word parasite may sound bad, but it cannot harm her, it only steals a portion of magical energy and sends it elsewhere."

"What do you mean sends it? Does it transfer Sakura's energy to someone else?" Tohsaka asked.

"Yes, but the problem lies with the baby. For now, I'm guessing because it's early, the parasite is ignoring the baby, but later on when the baby starts developing its own magical power, the parasite might start feeding on the baby's energy. An unborn baby would not possibly be able to keep up with the rhythms the parasite would be sucking its energy and it would probably-"

"It would die…" Shirou mumbled behind his teeth completing her sentence. "We have to do something fast. Please tell me you recognized to whom the other magical energy belong."

Nemesis nodded "The one who put the parasite inside her and the one to whom the magical energy belongs to is none other than Caster."

"Are you sure about that?" Tohsaka asked surprised.

"Totally! I was certain I had met that magical energy before, it was when I fought one of her familiars at that temple. The parasite inside of her is definitely hers and the magical energy is most likely sent to her. Your friend is being used as a magical energy generator."

"That would explain why she attacked Sakura. She was probably attracted by the immense amount of magical energy Sakura harbors. I bet though that not even Caster knew that she was pregnant; not that it mattered to her though" Tohsaka said.

"Tohsaka… I never said something like this before, but I want her dead!" Shirou smacked his hand on the wall making a loud thud.

"Me too, I never wanted to kill someone so much before in my life." Rider said as she glared at the mountain through the window.

Tohsaka took a deep breath to calm herself down "You two! I understand your anger, I want that monster dead as well. I won't rest until she's dead and Sakura is safe. But we can't let our rage and emotions get the better of us."

Rider cliqued her tongue annoyed. "I know, I know, but how do I put it? Now that I've learnt what happened to Sakura because of my incompetence. I just can't calm down even if you tell me to."

"Rider, I told you already. It's not your fault! Besides if anyone should be to blame, that would be me. I sent you to pick up from the airport next town that stupid shirt I had ordered. You couldn't protect Sakura, because I had sent you away."

Dean shook his head frustrated. "Ok, that's enough self-pitying! Your fault, her fault, who cares? The only one responsible is that monster and we will take her down and save Sakura."

"Dean's right. None of you could have imagined that something so horrible would happen all of a sudden. That monster shall meet its fate soon."

"I'm coming too." Rider said surprising everyone.

"Why?" Tohsaka asked.

"Because I'm still Sakura's servant and I have a duty to protect her. I will hear no objections!" Rider said in a determined voice.

"Who will guard Sakura while you're gone?" Shirou asked.

"Rin! Can you tell your servant to stay with Sakura for a while?" Rider asked.

"She's currently recovering from the previous battle, but she will be okay in a couple of a days."

"Fine by me that's gives us two days to plan our attack." Rider said.

"But the clock is ticking, can we afford that amount of time?" Shirou asked looking at Nemesis.

"We do, the baby is barely a week old, in fact, for a month, we'll be okay." Nemesis replied.

"It's decided then, until Rin's servant is ready for action, we'll prepare for our next battle." Everyone agreed silently with him nodding their head.

"Everyone, thank you!" Shirou said with his eyes slightly teary as he bowed to show his gratitude.

* * *

_REVIEW and tell me your thoughts about the story_

_And FOLLOW for more content._

_Be well and see you in a month._


	27. The monster's nature (part 1)

**Here it is at last the next chapter! That took longer than I expected since I ended up taking a different approach on how the story progresses. I was originally intending on adding a ****_Revelation (part 3)_**** which halfway decided to drop and add it later. So I began writing the Caster battle which too consists of 3 parts which I will be releasing before the end of the year.**

* * *

The night was quiet and dark, cloudy with no moon on the sky. The group drove to the old temple on Dean's car; the sound of the Impala's engine disrupted the otherworldly silence of the night, as Dean drove the car along the road leading at the temple's stairs.

"Luckily for us there are no people nearby. By the way Emiya-kun , when did the temple move to new Fuyuki? I remember that during the last time I was here, you told me that they were planning on moving." Tohsaka asked.

"Hmm….actually when I told you, Issei had already decided to relocate the temple. He thought that the new positon would be more profitable for the temple and it would be good for advertising. They were facing some economical problems for quite a time with the temple's maintenance; so I guess it makes sense that they moved someplace less expensive. As of when, hmm…. It must have happened during last month right after you left." Shirou answered.

"Hah! I never thought Ryuudou-kun had a business mind. A little payback is on order then; next time I see him I'll make sure to give him a lecture on earthly pleasures just like he used to do to me." Tohsaka rubbed her hands together like an evil genius. "Although, I understand him; faith alone cannot maintain a temple that big, especially during our times."

Dean ignoring their conversation parked the car at the base of the stairs which were leading up to the temple's main courtyard. "Well, here we are! I hope you're ready." Dean said as he took a glance around, examining the environment.

"Let's go!" Rider said in a serious voice. She had changed in her combat attire which when Dean saw, he thought that she forgot to put on her pants.

"Come to think of it Rider, I've never seen your weapon." Dean asked her curious.

She turned around and faced him, even though she was wearing her mask Dean could feel the cold glare she was giving him, she was not in the mood for jokes. She brought down her hand and hit the ground just below Dean's feet with a whip "Satisfied?" She asked annoyed; the whip made a loud noise waking up some birds that were sleeping in a nearby tree. Dean noticed that her whip had two daggers attached to each of its ends.

Dean took a step backwards "_Leather outfit, mask and now a whip…the full BDSM set. I think I like her._" He chuckled slightly.

"Something funny?" Rider asked.

"What? No, it is just nervous laughter, it happens to me from time to time. Let's go, we have a monster to kill." Dean said and started climbing up the stairs in a quick pace.

"Hey Dean…Wait up!" Shirou shouted and ran after him, Rider leaped and caught up with them leaving Tohsaka behind. "Damn! Those idiots!" She mumbled.

Tohsaka arrived last at the top, panting like she had just finished a marathon. "_Hah..hah…_was it really necessary to run all those steps?! I'm not as athletic as you three and we have a battle ahead of us. Give me a moment to catch my breath."

"Think of it as a warmup" Dean said as he pushed the old wooden door which opened easily at his touch. "Huh? That was easy. I thought there was going to be some kind tra-" Dean jumped and shoved Tohsaka down who let out a high pitched shriek.

Four dog tentacles lunged at them as soon as the door opened, but Rider deflected all of them easily before they could reach them. He smiled at Tohsaka awkwardly "Sorry about that! Nice perfume by the way. Peach? " She grunted.

"Lavender, but it's not the time now." She said as she shoved him away from atop of her. "Where did the attack come from?" She asked Rider.

"I don't know. They just came out of the ground and when I hit them they went back inside."

"Tsk…sentinel familiars. Those are the most annoying of the kind."Tohsaka said as she shook the dust of her clothes. "Watch out! They are like landmines, if you step inside the area they guard they will attack you on sight." Tohsaka said as she took out a handful of small orange gems from her satchel. She tossed them in a wide arc in front of her as far as she could. "I hope it's worth it." She mumbled.

"What were those gems Tohsaka?" Shirou asked. "Opals!" She replied indifferently. "I meant why did you throw them?" He asked again.

"Ah, yes! Wait a little longer—see!" Tohsaka pointed at some faint yellowish lights on the ground. "The gems indicate if a concentrated magical source is nearby. Well, the sentinels are basically magical energy in a specific form, meaning in high concentration, so the gems react to them. You better help me find them all afterwards, they cost me two paychecks." Shirou smiled awkwardly when he realized that Tohsaka was serious about it.

"We've wasted enough time. Let's move out." Rider prompted them to move.

They walked along the paved road leading to the main building of the temple; there were four faint lights spread widely along the courtyard. "It seems like she can't use more than four familiar at once." Dean said.

"You may be right or there may be more of them located far away from the gems I threw; there are only ten gems and we don't know how many familiars she can place at once. Also, we still don't know the radius of the area each of these sentinels guard. Tread lightly." Tohsaka said as she stepped forward first.

"Watch out!" Dean jumped in front of her and blocked the sentinel's attack with the first Blade, a breath away before it ripped apart Tohsaka's neck with its sharp teeth. Rider brought down her whip on it and forced it to retreat underground growling in pain. "_Phew_...that was close! Let me and Rider walk ahead of you two, step only where we step."

Tohsaka gulped down and nodded at him. "Right, that would be better!" She said in a slightly shaky voice. "The distance between me and the gem was about fifteen meters, so keep in mind that the area they guard has at least a fifteen meters diameter."

"Wait a minute!" Dean said and raised his arm to a halt. "What?" Rider asked impatiently. "The gem!" Dean pointed at it. "It stopped shining after it attacked us and another one lit over there. Did the sentinel move?"

Instinctively, they all turned to Tohsaka for an explanation. She lifted her eyes and looked back at them in a loss somehow. "Uh oh, that seems like trouble. She's more skilled at controlling her familiars than I had expected. She can change their position very quickly after they have attacked. Normally, that would take a while about three to five minutes for a human magus; I figured that she could do it at half time at most, but apparently she can do it under ten seconds."

"Tell me you have something for that too." Shirou asked hoping for an accepting nod, but she shook her head disappointed. "Unfortunately no, but I can try something else. I'm not sure it will work though."

"What is it?" Rider asked.

"You'll see, you better prepare yourselves for battle first; you too Emiya-kun." Tohsaka said in a commanding voice.

"Agreed." Shirou nodded at her and materialized his pair of short swords which reflected the dim surrounding light on their blades.

"Over there" Rider pointed at two shining spots on the ground far from their current position; the lit gems were a few meters away from the main building's entrance. She and Dean walked towards them; weapons ready; followed closely by Shirou and Tohsaka.

"Wait!" Tohsaka said. "Let me handle it." She said confidently, Dean was ready to object, but Shirou stopped him.

Tohsaka extended her left arm; her family's magic crest appeared on her skin, it glowed light blue; she formed her hand in the shape of gun and a small black whirling ball of light began growing from her extended index finger. "Gandr Shot!" She said out loud and two black beams were fired in quick succession from the tip of her finger.

Each beam hit the surrounding area of each of the glowing gemstones; two dog tentacles arose and howled loudly, their howl piercing the silence of the night. Dean and Rider readied their weapons, when they noticed that their enemies had summoned reinforcements. Another set of dog tentacles had appeared behind them and had them surrounded; the dog heads were glaring at them with red bloodthirsty eyes and were growling menacingly, without moving from their place though.

"What are they waiting for?" Shirou asked silently.

"Orders. Each of this type of familiars is designed to guard a specific area. And its orders are simply kill everyone who enters it. If something that they cannot kill enters their territory, like a long range spell for example; then, they have no choice but to emerge and fight, but that means they will need new orders from their master." A faint smug smile formed on Tohsaka's lips as she explained.

Rider smirked "Huh…So, that's what you did! You forced them out without triggering their _guard area _condition."

"Well, we still have to fight them, but good thinking." Dean said.

"Here they come!" Shirou shouted and readied his blades.

The battle reached its conclusion without any surprises; the group drove away each dog tentacle easily. One hit from the whip-dagger, one slash from the First blade, a cross slash from Shirou's short swords and a quick, but strong fire spell from Tohsaka was all it took them to rout them.

"It will take her a while to redeploy them all. Let' head for the main building and catch our breath." Tohsaka said.

"She's not in this building. We can rest for a while there before we search the backyard." Rider said as she started fast walking towards the main building, Dean and Shirou followed after her.

They both stopped shortly after when they heard a distinctive sound from behind him "_Cough, cough. _Ahem…guys! The gems, help me pick them up." Tohsaka said.

"Ah...yeah, sorry. I forgot about them." Shirou apologized and walked towards her.

"Don't take too long. Pick only the ones close by and don't wander off. If they are still glowing gems, don't attempt to take them on alone." Dean warned them as he walked under the temple's doorstep.

The building which they had entered used to be the ceremonial grounds of the temple where the religious rites were held and where the daily prayers took place. Dean looked around as he walked inside; he saw Rider examining the back door, probably for traps or more sentinel familiars; he noticed that the walls were relatively well-preserved despite what Shirou said before about the temple facing economic problems. The floor was quite dusty, but that was expected, what drew his attention was a shiny gilded urn in the middle of the room.

"Is this golden? Why didn't they take it with them when they moved?" he mumbled as he approached it.

Rider turned around and saw Shirou and Tohsaka chatting under the building's doorstep. "Give it up Tohsaka, you lost three gems…Big deal! We nearly lost our heads out there, be thankful you found the rest of the gems, considering the circumstances." Shirou complained.

"Hah! I'd like to see if you would say the same if that happened to your prized kitchenware." Tohsaka replied annoyed and left him standing dumbfounded.

"If that was an innuendo about messing with my kitchenware, I swear that I will fight to the bitter end." Shirou stated determined.

Rider sighed "Those two…huh?" Suddenly a sublime green light illuminated the room; she looked down and saw markings on the floor; the markings spread across the whole room; they were depicting four dog tentacles coiling around each other. "Get out!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and without even thinking about the risk of an ambush she kicked the backdoor open and jumped outside.

She hadn't even landed on the floor when a powerful shockwave blasted her away; the whole rooftop crumbled and was swallowed in the bright green light of the explosion that ensued. Rider quickly stood up and looked back at the building; the ground was smoldering hot, she could feel the intense heat permeating her body, yet there was no smoke at all; it was impossible for anyone to stand on the floor, let alone walk on it. The green explosion had completely obliterated the rooftop leaving only the walls which for some reason were intact. Anything that may have been left inside the building was now long gone; a dreadful thought came to her mind, but she quickly brushed it off when she heard a familiar voice calling her, it was Shirou.

"Rider! Are you okay?"

She looked through the backdoor's opening and spotted him and Tohsaka on the other side of the temple; they seemed okay. "I'm okay. What about you?"

"We got out just in time, thanks to Dean's quick reaction, but he…he got injured." Shirou explained.

She bit her under lip annoyed that she was unable to help them. "Injured? How bad is he?"

"I-I am okay, no need to worry about me." She heard Dean's voice, just from the tone of his voice, she knew that it was a serious injury.

"Stay still Dean!" Rider heard Tohsaka scolding him. "You sustained severe burns all over your back, I'm surprised you can still move; Rider, I'm sorry but we can't get through until the floor cools off and the walls separating us are too high for us to climb"

"I don't think that this is the kind of flames that go away just like that. Unless, Caster dispels them, they will keep burning until she dies. And I also sense a force field between us—She was intending to separate herself from us Rin using that explosion as a distraction to raise a force field, it was pure luck that I managed to end up at this side." Rider said.

"We must change our course of action." Shirou said.

"Indeed, with Dean being unable to move, we're one servant down. We have to call the others and tell them to come sooner than we planned. Hopefully she doesn't know about the underground passage." Tohsaka said skeptically.

"How much time will it take for them to come here?" Rider asked.

"Not much, they are about a kilometer away from the temple's premises and on standby. If I call them now, it wouldn't take them long, but until then we're stuck—Damn, this shouldn't have happened….I should have checked for traps before letting any of you inside."

Dean raised his hand weakly as he grunted in pain "Don't-_ugh_ blame yourself Rin…I was the one who sprung up the trap by approaching that urn."

"I'm calling them now." Shirou said and walked a few steps away to talk.

"Hey, try and relax Dean, there is no reason playing tough it will hurt you even more. Can you turn around ? I might be able to alleviate some of the pain with a healing spell. "

Intense pain overrun Dean as he tried to move his body, he clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, but he couldn't help but let out a moan of pain. "_Gah_-Thanks Rin, by the way, is Rider okay? Was she injured during the explosion?"

"You should worry about yourself first, though….hold on a moment...Rider! Rider, are you there!—oh please, don't tell me she went to look for Caster alone! Rider!" Tohsaka shouted once again even louder than before. "Damn it! She's not there." She kicked the ground violently.

"They are on their way, they will enter from the underground passage. I will meet them there…Hmm? What happened Tohsaka? Why that face?" Shirou asked, noticing Tohsaka obvious mood swing.

"It is Rider! For some reason, she ignored the plan and left to look for Caster while we were still talking, she didn't even say anything." Tohsaka explained frustrated.

"Tohsaka, I'm sure something must have happened. She's not the kind of person who will act on her own or stray from plan without good reason." Shirou tried to calm her down.

"She better have one…" Tohsaka said angry, but then she realized that she was losing it so she tried to control her emotions; she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Ok, Emiya-kun, go meet with the others at the underground passage. I'll stay here and take care of Dean."

"Will you two be alright?" Shirou asked concerned.

"Just go Shirou, I'm hurt not disabled, I can protect Rin and myself if need be. Watch yourself and please take care of my brother, since I won't be there to take care of him."

"Got it! I'm off then." He said and disappeared into the black of night.

Rider kicked open the door of the building which used to be the temple's living quarters in the past. "Stop right there!" She shouted.

For a while, there was no response, but then a girlish voice spoke up and greeted her. "Good evening! I see you caught up with me….I wonder how you managed to pass that force field I put up…well, too bad for you! I was hoping to let you all live tonight, but I guess it can't be helped now." All she could see was a small figure walking towards her from the darkness of the room

"Before that I have a question. Why did you attack Sakura? Wasn't the energy your master was providing you enough? Why did he order you to assault her and plant that parasite inside of her?" Rider asked as she readied her weapons.

The figure became clearer as she walked towards the open door. "My master?! _Hihihi…_you're so funny! Do you think a monster like me would bow herself to a mere mortal? But I guess on the other hand, that much is expected. You always thought that just because we shared a similar fate, we were alike."

"Huh? Who are you? And how do you know-" Rider asked, but her sentence was cut short when she saw the figure's face who had just stepped into the moonlight. "You?!"

The little girl smiled impishly at her. "Yes, me! Surprised to see me Medusa? Won't you come and hug me? Your old friend Scylla?! "

* * *

_So, that's for the first part!_

_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_Leave a review with your thoughts about it and if you like the story follow it for more content!_

_Keep up being awesome!_

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Stats for Lancer, since I forgot to post them last time

**Class**: Lancer| **True Name: **Awilix the Mayan goddess of the moon.

**Strength** B  
**Endurance** B-  
**Agility** A+  
**Magical Energy** C  
**Luck** E  
**Noble Phantasm** B-

**Noble Phantasms: **

**Tohil's gemstone: **Awilix's spearhead is made from a rare purple magical gem that it was given to her by Tohil the greatest of the three primary deities representing the gods of the K'iche Mayans; the other two deities being Jacawitz and Awilix herself. When she invokes its power she can call freely manipulate gravity around a specific target, it costs very little magical energy to activate, but there is a single condition that had been set by Tohil himself. He had said that you can only activate it only on a target that is closer to the moon than you are. (That includes any enemies standing on higher ground than her or enemies jumping higher than where she stands.)

**Blessings of the moon (Secondary, Passive): **Awilix was widely known as the goddess of the moon , so it's only natural that she receives it blessings. She is unaffected by low level curses (B or lower level), fatal curses (B+ or higher) have degraded effects (aka Ilya's death curse) on her.

**Other skills: **

**Summon spirit animal**: For the Mayans each animal symbolized a part of their life, the eagle symbolized the moon whereas the jaguar symbolized the night. Awilix serves a long noble lineage of moon goddesses that's why she decorates herself with eagle feathers, but the moon is but a part of the night so her true companion is the night's symbol. Her jaguar pet shares the same blessing from the moon as her, is trained for combat and can freely shift from ethereal to corporeal form.

**Jaguar Ferocity (Passive): **As a born huntress, she always goes for the first strike. If Awilix manages to land the first strike on her enemy her spear becomes empowered allowing her to strike with more power. (Strength and Agility rises). The effect ends if she stops attacking for a few seconds or receives a hit and does not activate again for another 24 hours (a full day cycle, so it can recharge from the moon.)


	28. The monster's nature (part 2)

_Hello once again, I have to admit that this part was kinda tricky for me to write, I hope that it turned out well after so many days of editing. At the end of this chapter I explain some things about the abilities used in this battle (like a wiki menu :P) in case you have questions. Some parts are left unanswered on purpose, because I intend to reveal all details in the last part._

* * *

Shirou's cheeks were bright red, he was huffing and puffing like crazy; he had run or more precisely sprinted all the way from the temple grounds, where he parted with Tohsaka and Dean, all the way down the temple stairs and through the surrounding forest until he finally reached the entrance to the underground passage; there he found Castiel, Nemesis and Sam waiting for him; when he saw them he tried to speak to them, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"Take a moment to catch your breath Shirou." Castiel said.

After a couple of deep breaths, Shirou was ready to move. "I'm fine, let's go inside."

"What about Dean is he okay?" Sam asked.

"Tohsaka said he'll be fine, but he'll be unable to help us any longer in this fight, so we will have to execute our plan faster and there is also another issue…" He paused.

"What is it?" Castiel asked.

"It's Rider, after I ended the call with you guys, Tohsaka told me that she left on her own to face Caster."

"Why would she do that?" Nemesis complained angrily.

"Honestly, I don't know, but she better have a good reason for going off plan and putting herself and all our efforts in peril." Shirou said while fast walking further inside the cave when suddenly he stopped.

"Huh? What is it?" Sam asked him.

Shirou looked back and stared at the empty cavern they had just passed; nothing had changed in there since he last set foot inside ten years ago, it was when he and Rider had fought his previous servant Saber who has been corrupted by the Holy Grail, his eyes fixed on one particular spot; it was there where he killed Saber, emotions long forgotten stirred up inside him, but he brushed them away, shaking his head.

"Sorry, I zoned out for a moment. Let's keep going."

"How far is it until we can climb to the surface?" Sam said while inspecting the environment around him.

"We have to venture further inside until we reach the end. The rubbles from the battle ten years ago caused the ground to collapse. Later on, the temple's people discovered that hole on the ground and assumed it was caused from an earthquake, fortunately for Tohsaka since it was one less thing to answer for to the Mages' association. Anyway, due to lack of funds that hole was never sealed completely; instead they covered it with wooden planks and some rugs, at least that's what Issei told me. And that's how we will infiltrate." Shirou explained.

"Anyhow, I'm assuming there will be a slight change of plans." Nemesis said in a serious tone.

"Indeed, but that change affects only me, the rest of you will have to fulfill your roles as we planned." Shirou answered without looking back.

**Meanwhile,**

"What's the matter Medusa? You used to be stronger than that?" Scylla said mockingly as she unleashed another barrage of magical orbs which travelled at high speed towards Rider.

"Humph…. As cocky as ever!" Rider whispered under her breath, as she gracefully dodged the first orbs and deflected the rest with her whip.

"Tell me, how does it feel to be bound by the same mortals as the ones who you used to feed on?" Scylla asked, while drawing a magical circle on the air with her index finger.

Rider ignored her provocations, her eyes fell on the signs she was drawing on the air; she was determined not to let her finish whatever it was; she dashed in, but her way was blocked by Scylla's pets. "Tsk…" She cliqued her tongue and retreated to the back of the room as far as possible from her.

"Ajax, Achilles, sic her!" Scylla yelled at her dogs. The dogs immediately obeyed their master's order and lunged at Rider.

"_If it is only them, I can—_Gah!" The two dog head viciously attacked at Rider knocking her off balance. "_What the-? Those are much stronger than the sentinels we faced on our way in._" The dogs relentlessly kept up with their attack, though they couldn't hurt her, they gave Rider no quarter to retaliate or fall back; they had her pinned down on one position.

"Get Stuck!" Scylla shouted; and the magic circle she was drawing before, appeared underneath Rider, enclosing her inside a tight space with Scylla's dogs, leaving her absolutely no space to run or dodge; she had her right where she wanted her.

"_That's bad…._"

Scylla walked towards Rider, thoroughly enjoying the sight in front of her. "I honestly thought that you would entertain me a little more, but I guess that's all I should expect from someone who let the mortals rule over her. It's time to scream!" Several dog tentacles emerged from the ground behind Scylla. "Crush her!" She commanded them and without hesitation the dog pack lunged at Rider.

"Gorgon Breaker, release!" She shouted and her mask which restricted her mystical eyes of petrification broke into pieces, revealing her red crimson eyes and sending out a wave of mana which destroyed the magical barrier around her; the two dogs inside the circle staggered for a moment from the pressure emanating from Rider. "That's enough!" Her eyes' faced the charging familiars turning them all into statues in an instant; the other two dogs realizing that their prey was out of their league quickly retreated back to their master's side.

"_Hihihi_….I knew it! You were faking from the start! No matter how flabby you've become, I couldn't believe that this was all your power." Scylla said in a calm voice while calmly brushing off some dust from her dress.

"Always the arrogant one….even back then, you used to show off all the time. Nevertheless, I won't dillydally about things of the past or question why you chose this path of destruction for yourself, even though at a time you hated your nature even more than I did….It's time to end this!" Rider replied, while maintaining her battle stance.

"You're right, you shouldn't! But tell me, do you really think that even with your current strength, you can take me on?" Scylla took a step back. "Everyone! It's fun time!" She said to her dogs.

Rider watched as the _little girl _before her transformed into an abomination. Four dog tentacles emerged underneath her skirt, lifting her up higher; her skin turned bluish and the pupils of her eyes took a vivid yellowish hue. Rider gulped down, as she came to the realization that she wasn't the only one who was holding back this entire time; she had to fight her for serious and because she rushed off and didn't wait for the others she had to be extra careful, one wrong move and she was done, she knew it; that was how much powerful Scylla was at the moment. Also, she already knew that her mystical eyes of petrification had little to no effect in Scylla due to her origins' as a water nymph. Unless, she could catch her completely off guard and stare in her eyes for a long time, Scylla could just dissolve into water and break all petrification effects.

Suddenly, the front door burst open; at the entrance stood Nemesis, she walked beside Rider, took out her sword and assumed her battle stance" All of these without saying a single word.  
"Great, you're here too? I should have figured it out it was you who lead them here tonight. You were lucky last time, but this won't happen again. So, do you have a plan or something to kill me?" Scylla asked arrogantly.

"Our initial plan was ruined thanks for her impatience." Nemesis said without moving an inch from her position or looking at Rider.

"Sorry, she was about to escape; I had to stop her. Thanks for coming to help, nevertheless." Rider apologized, but she was ignored.

"Fool! You think such arrogance will go unpunished? Do you really think that because you've gained some power you can overcome fate? Surrender now or face the consequences!" Nemesis yelled at Scylla in strict voice.

Scylla chuckled mockingly "It's always about consequences for you isn't it! Always punishing mortals for their evil deeds! Why are you even here to punish me then? I'm immortal, or did you forget? Tell me, do you find pleasure in killing mortals who have nothing to do with you. I am a monster so it's in my nature to kill people, but you! You are just a sadistic, self-righteous bitch who gets excited when she hears the screams of the people she kills. Your collection of torture devices, just proves my point furthermore!" She sneered at her.

Nemesis remained silent and Scylla continued her raging monologue. "Still, you punish mortals for their insolence, then why didn't you ever even attempted to murder that bastardly witch Circe and several others? Were you doing favors perhaps?" Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "And not only that, you now serve a mortal. Who?! You! The one who was bringing death to any mortal who sinned, is now serving one! Ahahaha-Are you doing your mommy Nyx favors again?" Scylla sniggered.

Nemesis hesitated for a moment, but then spoke loudly. "I don't have to answer to you for my actions! Now prepare yourself!" She shouted menacingly.

Scylla's face distorted from anger. "You don't even have the guts to say that the so called justice of yours is truly blind and a tool to be used by the ones in powers; the same beings that did me wrong. At least, I'm true to myself, you don't even have the fucking decency to admit that you're just a pawn of that bitch Nyx."

None spoke for a few moments, the atmosphere was tense and the slight movement from either side was guaranteed to bring forth a catastrophic battle. "Your sins are beyond forgiveness, you will have to continue this conversation with my brother when he comes to collect your soul." Nemesis said in a low threatening voice.

"Come at me worm!" Scylla yelled and from her hand several magical bullets was shot at high velocity towards Nemesis.

One swing, two swings, three swings and the bullets were all deflected. Nemesis pointed her sword at Scylla; its embedded purple gems glimmered under the dim lighting of the room. "Come at me like you mean it or this will be a short battle." She said angrily.

"You can't block my attacks forever, you will have to…huh?" A dagger flew right past Scylla's face, grazing her hair and without a second delay another one was shot at her, but it was grabbed on air from one of the dog heads surrounding her. "Humph… I've forgotten about you. Ajax, Achilles, Cyril, deal with her; it is fun time now!" The dog tentacles detached themselves from her body and three others took their place. Slithering across the floor the dogs approached Rider, growling menacingly at her.

Nemesis dashed towards Scylla closing the distance between them, while her attention was distracted with Rider. "En garde" She shouted and brought her longsword down on Scylla's head, but her blade was smashed upon a magic circle which formed instantaneously, the moment she was about to make contact.

Scylla turned around and faced her. "Did you really thought that you could take me by surprise? Aside from the fact that you yelled when you were attacking, I'm not the same as I was during the age of the Gods."

"When I deliver justice, I'm forced to announce myself, it has always been like that. That way the sinners would knew who punished them for their evil deeds, before they die."

Scylla shook her head disappointed "I don't know if it is stupidity or naivety that ails you." She raised her arm and several dog heads emerged from the ground.

"Damn…she missed her chance." Rider mumbled to herself, when she saw Nemesis surprise attack fail, she started running away from Scylla in order to evade the dogs that had been send to kill her.

"_This distance should be fine!"_ Suddenly, Rider stopped and turned around, she threw her whip at one of the dogs and managed to ensnare it; with a snap of her wrist she brought the dog head to the ground and stomped hard on its skull, jumping behind the other two charging dogs; they turned around and without hesitating, they charged once again at her. "I can do this all day beasts, but my master's life depends on me."

"Die bitch!" Scylla screamed as she snapped her fingers.

"It's no use" Nemesis said calmly while another one of Scylla's traps detonated under her feet; Nemesis was enveloped in a light blue aura which each time a trap went off it turned red and a lighting hit Scylla on the face, this had been going on for a while. Scylla shooting bullets at Nemesis and placing traps all over the floor, while Nemesis was continuously attacking her from all sides trying to break through the magical barrier Scylla had put around her, but with no success.

Scylla shook her head to snap out of confusion "Tsk… what a troublesome ability. Get her!" She commanded her familiars.

The dogs attacked Nemesis with all their ferocity and strength, but their fate was already predetermined; Nemesis swung her sword once and the next moment the building echoed with the sound of their falling heads. "Such foolishness!" Nemesis mumbled and dashed towards Scylla.

Nemesis unleashed a flurry of thrusts upon Scylla aiming at her neck and heart, but her way was blocked from the dog heads and for each familiar she slew, two more spawned and took its place, guarding Scylla from her fury. "Do they have no end?" Nemesis said angrily and jumped away from her, covered in the blood of the dog familiars.

"Gotcha!" Scylla smiled evilly.

"Wha-?" Nemesis looked down and saw a single dog tentacle wrapping itself around her, it was then she noticed that her blue aura had been penetrated, she raised her sword, but it was too late.

"No you don't!" Two beams were shot from Scylla's hand and disarmed Nemesis.

She struggled to get away, but she couldn't; she started grunting as the dog started squeezing her body "What on earth?"

"Are you perhaps feeling a bit weak? Scylla said with an evil smile painted on her face.

"What is it? Why isn't my retribution shield activating?" Nemesis mumbled as she was struggling with teeth and nails to get away.

"Hihihi…Let's just say that this was one of the several improvements I've had since last time we met. You see those _weak _traps you stepped on before; their purpose wasn't to kill you, but to lower your magic resistances, all for the sake of the grand finale."

The remaining two dog heads were about fifteen meters away from Rider; they were charging at her, baring their shiny, white , sharp fangs at her, but she was calm, almost serene, yet battle ready, she opened her eyes and pierced them with her gaze, but they didn't turn to stone, only slowed down a bit. "What?!" She muttered surprised.  
Those familiars were not like the ones she petrified before; they are stronger than the other ones which were simple creations of magic. They are part of Scylla's body thus, they share common traits with her such as petrification immunity.

They attacked her from both sides, she dodged one and deflected the other one with one dagger. _"Now!"  
_She thrust her second dagger under the dog's jaw piercing its skull from below; it screamed and thrashed around knocking her off balance as it dropped dead on the ground.

The last remaining dog head lunged at her and headbutted her, but she dodged backwards and prepared to throw her dagger. "Gah!" She let out a cry of pain, the first dog which she thought that had crashed its brain to a pulp was up and about and was digging its fangs deep into her shoulder. "Aaah!" She screamed in agony as the dog was tearing her flesh apart; its face was covered in her blood.

_"__That's bad! It will tear up my whole arm if I don' do something._" But the last dog wasn't going to let her have it her way; it attacked her straight on, aiming for her head, but fortunately for her a shining blue arrow saved her in the nick of time.

"I knew it, providing support from outside the temple isn't as easy as I though. Rider is injured and Nemesis is….whoa! What the hell is this?" Shirou quickly prepared his next shot and ran into to position to help. "_I hope the other two are finishing up with their task._"

"Don't think that…argh!" Nemesis grunted in pain, she gritted her teeth trying to show no weakness, but it was futile; Scylla's familiar Zoey had her completely wrapped up like a Christmas present and was now squeezing her hard.

Scylla sniggered. "What did you say? I couldn't hear you over the sound of your moans. Is Zoey perhaps squeezing too hard? Don't worry! Your suffering will end soon when he comes." Scylla snapped her finger and a green magic circle appeared on the floor.

"Why are you doing this? Do you really think that you will be rewarded once all this is over?" Nemesis said in a barely audible voice.

"If you think you can persuade to stop with some sentimental bullshit speech, forget it! Unlike you, I fight for a reason and that reason includes embracing my true nature, that of a monster."

"I….I was unable to bring Circe to justice because of circumstances and I deeply regret it; but the path you have chosen will only lead to more destruction, if you truly have a goal you should be able to see that too."

"Silence!" Scylla shouted loudly, her voice broke apart the few glass windows of the building. "I could care less about your apology, for centuries I've plead and begged the gods to avenge me yet nothing was done. And when I decided to take the matter into my own hands, your bosses punished me instead! They trapped me in the sea of Sicily and left me to rot for all eternity there." She yelled furious.

"I know, but you have to realize that Circe was a much bigger threat than we anticipated and your actions were messing with their plans." Nemesis stopped struggling, the dog head was so tightly wrapped up around that she could only move her fingers.

Her face became even more distorted from rage "Oh, really? Tell me then, if I was the obstacle why they murdered — Oh! Speak of the devil. You will meet your end from him as he did once upon a time from the magic of your bosses. Say hello to Glaucus!"

The magic circle which Scylla had previously summoned, span at high speed and turned white from green; it slowly elevated upwards and as it was going up a white serpentine figure was slowly being revealed. It was too a dog head, but unlike the other dog heads it had white fur and it was twice the size of the elite four of Scylla's dogs. Its eyes were not red, but light blue and they were glowing slightly.

The floor became drenched in seawater dripping from the gigantic white dog's fur; the stench of seaweed and salt reached Nemesis nostrils; due to her acute senses the smell was even more intense for her. Standing there all wrapped up for the dog to devour, she couldn't help, but feel a bit anxious. If she was fighting in the realm of the gods she would have no problem turning this around, but fighting a divine beast in the land of mortals without a good magical energy supply, it was too much even for her. Castiel due to his diminishing grace wasn't able to provide her with a sufficient magical energy, because it would endanger his own life, so they had agreed to keep it at the bare minimum, unless it was a real emergency.

The monstrous dog howled loudly, its howl echoed throughout the temple grounds; the echo made Nemesis and Rider's heads buzz since they were the ones closer to it.

Tohsaka and Dean covered their ears. "What was that Rin?" Dean asked.

"I don't know, something really bad, I'm sure." She replied as she was trying to peek at the other side through the smokes of the burning building in front of her.

"Rin, we should go help them. I'm better now, I can fight, I can…ugh!"Dean stuttered and was forced to fall on his knees by the burning sensation at his back.

"No Dean, we won't! You will only be a burden and I can't leave you here alone. I just hope Castiel and your brother can do what I've told them to."

"I've asked you before and you didn't answer me clearly. Why do you think this spell will work on that monster?"

Tohsaka smirked. "As much as it pains me to admit it, it will work because the person who came up with it is an expert to rune magic and is a very capable magus as well."

"Friend of yours?"

"Friend?! Hardly! More like a life antagonist, her name is Luvia Edelfelt."

"Hahahaha! Was that the sound of your arm cracking? Was it the left or the right or perhaps both? Do you feel despair now? Can you hear the voices of the thousands of mortals you've slain, they are calling for you from the depths of Hades. They demand justice, I'm sure they will be pretty happy when I deliver them justice itself." Rage dripping from her voice; the retribution, she so much desired all these centuries was about to become reality and Nemesis was just the tip of the iceberg of her vengeance, many more were on her list for extermination with first and foremost the witch Circe.

Scylla's eyes were glowing yellow, they were feasting on the sight before them, she was savoring every moment as Nemesis' body was being crushed into bits; she hadn't yet given a single command to the new gigantic dog head she had summoned, because she wanted to enjoy the momentd.

"Damn it! Normal shots won't work on this thing as they did on the others. I'll have to prepare something bigger. It might take time, but it will kill it….I hope…Damn, what is taking the other two so long?" Shirou mumbled to himself.

Rider having killed all of the dog familiars Scylla had sent after her thanks to Shirou's timely intervention; was now lying wounded on her back, observing Nemesis and Scylla's battle from afar and gathering her strength for her next attack; when Scylla summoned the great white dog, Rider couldn't believe her eyes. "_How did she do that?_" That was her initial thought. Rider knew that Glaucus was the name of the man Scylla loved; he was a mortal who turned immortal by eating a magical herb, he was a kind person who came to the aid of the sailors in need and saved them, that's why after he was murdered, Scylla became obsessed with sinking ships; though immortal he was not divine, that's why his spirit was supposed to go to Hades as the rest of the mortals, but instead Scylla had managed to bound it inside the body of this sea monster.

She saw the great white dog baring its teeth at Nemesis, she knew she had to act quickly. "I summon thee! Come Bellerephon!" Underneath Rider a white magic circle formed and a Pegasus began rising slowly from inside. "Tsk…That wound is disturbing with my magical energy's flow."

"It's time to feast Glaucus!" Scylla shouted a command at it.

The white beast howled ferociously, even louder than before; it opened its mouth wide open; its teeth were so white and shiny that you could actually see your reflection on them if you stood close enough. The dog approached Nemesis and sniffed her; she could feel its foul breath in her nostrils, even though she could not see a thing she knew by the sound and the smell that it was standing at point blank from her face.

"Chew her to pieces!" Scylla shouted and the beast clenched its enormous jaws; Scylla saw the blood splattering from behind and smiled evilly as her dog was chewing on its meal." Now, for the re…what?"

Nemesis was lying helpless on the floor inside a pool of blood, it wasn't her own though. It was Zoey's, one of Scylla's elite four dog; Glaucus had crunched her instead of Nemesis. He bit off her head along with half her body, it all happened so fast, Zoey didn't even have time to understand what had happened. Scylla screamed furiously and yelled at her dog. "What have you done? You killed her. You killed Zoey, I had told you could eat anyone as long it wasn't one of those four, yet you too…why? Don't you see that I fight for both of us …Aaaargh!" Scylla screamed and magical beams were shot in every direction, destroying everything on their path.

"Kill her…now!" She yelled another command at him.

The dog turned and faced Scylla growling menacingly at her, she clenched her hand and a green collar appeared around its neck "Do it!" She said, giving the dog an icy cold glare.

The dog focused his attention again at Nemesis, she was still trying to stand up, it opened his mouth again, its fangs were now dripping with the blood of his former ally; it lunged at her. "Your powers are mine!" Nemesis shouted; two purple flames flew from the beast and entered Nemesis. She jumped on her feet, sword in hand;

Her sword and the beast struck at the same time; the clash between them was so fierce and powerful that it created sparks around them. Thanks to her noble phantasm, she had managed to absorb some of the beast's strength for a small time, thus the clash resulted in them locking blades and not her being overpowered by the dog's sheer strength. The fight was in a standstill, but not for long.

"Why don't you just die?!" Scylla yelled shooting several magical bullets at Nemesis.

"Fly, Bellerephon!" Rider said at her Pegasus.

All Nemesis and Scylla could see was a massive white tornado circling around them, the magical bullets were drawn into it and dissipated along with the roof of the building. "Why you?" Scylla muttered, but before she could launch another attack a white flash struck her with the force strong enough to pierce a five meter wall made of pure titanium, a shield formed instantaneously around Scylla absorbing some damage, but not all of it, she staggered and Rider and Bellerephon flew back inside the tornado, preparing their next strike.

"Why are fighting me Medusa? The gods didn't do justice to you either. You should be helping me." Scylla said as she deflected another one of Bellerephon strikes, again a part of it.

Their words could not be heard by normal means; they were speaking inside each other's head. "I want justice too, but I won't seek it like you do. Your _justice _is guided by an unfulfilled love affair. In reality, you don't even care about your nature as long as you could be together with him. Is that why you enslaved his soul and bound it to that dog's body? So you could be together for life?"

"Silence! You know nothing of my struggles, nothing…you keep yapping about gallantry, yet you never think of yourself and how you suffered, you deserve to-" A scream of pain brought their conversation to a closure.

"It was time!" Rider mumbled and looked through the broken roof, she saw Castiel and Sam giving her the thumbs up signal, the trap had been activated successfully and now Scylla was being electrocuted by twenty one thousand Gigawatts per second, she was screaming and flailing around; it was only a matter of seconds before she was toasted.

When Rider attacked with Bellerephon, even the great white dog wasn't left unaffected by the force of their tornado, Nemesis' saw the chance and took it, since it was unsure if there would be another one. She channeled all her remaining magical energy in her legs. "Let the scales tip in my favor." She mumbled; a phasmantal scale appeared behind her shoulders and whirling balls of lights, one for Nemesis and one for the white beast, moved around until one outweighed the other for only just a little though.

Nemesis jumped back, breaking the standstill, the dog didn't wait any second and resumed its attack, she wasn't in position to defend herself properly; she had put her life in the hands of fate, since there was no alternative. She had no way of knowing whom the scales favored without looking at them and she couldn't do that. She knew that the scales favored the less sinful and that her sins were not great, but still she was nervous. Nemesis attacked with an overhand blow, the dog brought its jaws down and once again a blood splatter burst from inside the beast's mouth, a woman's scream along with a dog's cry were drown amidst the chaos spread by the cyclone caused by Bellerephon . Then, a pillar of bright white light appeared and lit the night sky.

_"_The plan succeeded." Nemesis said under her breath as she felt the last of her noble phantasm's borrowed strength leaving her body. She fell unconscious as a lighting vortex was surrounding Scylla.

"Glaucus!" Scylla shouted worried, when she saw her white dog lying on the ground with Nemesis sword stuck deep inside his head; her struggle to get out suddenly became fiercer.

"What is she doing? Why is she still not dead?" Rider muttered to herself while observing the great lighting storm burning Scylla to the ground. She noticed movement on the ground, it was the dog it had still fight left in it despite being pierced by a sword through the skull. She could still feel Nemesis presence, she was not dead yet, but she would be if the dog would stand, she had to act fast; she prepared to dive in when a shining light stopped her.

The dog slowly rose once again, its eyes focused on its prey. In front of its face, Nemesis' body was hanging lifelessly; the only reason its fangs hadn't completely cut off her leg was because of the strengthening she had done beforehand. The beast shook its head violently causing Nemesis to slip from its teeth smashing to the ground while blood was spurting from her mangled up right thigh. It lunged ferociously at her with its mouth open and crashed on the ground.

"No! No! No! No! No, no, no! Glaucus! " Scylla shrieked in a high pitched voice when she saw the white dog's head roll over to her position. Her yellow eyes scanned the battlefield and finally focused on the killer; it was Shirou who was still holding the projected Excalibur in his hands; he was kneeling on the floor and was panting due to the fatigue from his last attack.

"Oh no!" Rider muttered and charged with her Pegasus at Scylla without thinking the harm the lighting could cause to her.

"Enough!" A destructive magical shockwave brought Bellerephon to the ground along with Rider; she managed to land on her four without suffering any damage, unlike her Pegasus who was smashed forcefully on the wall and dissipated into sparkles. Rider looked up at Scylla; she had changed; the dog tentacles which she has been using all this time as feet were now located around her waist and in their place there were normal tentacles. Twelve tentacles in total and six dog head around her waist. Her eyes widened, that was Scylla's divine form, the form she turned into when she was bathed into that poisoned pond; she hadn't seen her like this for thousands of years since the last time they spoke.

"Hey Cas! Shouldn't she be dead by now….?" Sam asked hesitantly, looking the lighting storm raging through a broken wall at the back of the building.

Castiel squinted his eyes and looked through the lighting storm that was surrounding Scylla. "She should! But somehow she's still alive and not only that, she's trying escape the cage."

"What?! But how?! I thought we did everything correct. She should be fried by now."

"We did, but her power seem to extend more than we anticipated for. We should retreat for now and regroup with the others." Sam nodded and they ran.

Scylla's tentacles escaped the lighting cage unharmed and tossed Glacus body and head inside a portal which Scylla opened with a snap of her fingers; once the portal was closed, the pressure emanating from Scylla increased tenfold breaking apart her lighting prison. "Move aside!" She shouted and swept the floor off the debris along with Nemesis' body which smashed on the side wall.

Despite her severe injuries, she moved onwards; she was still searing hot, her skin and almost all of the muscle tissue t had been burnt off completely; her left hand was literally skeletal, a black burnt skeletal hand forced to be moved by her magical energy.

Rider bit her lips so hard it started bleeding. "_Tsk…she's heading for Shirou…I have to do something, but if I fight her here in that form here that would put more strain to Sakura and the baby…. I have to force her to relocate somewhere where she would be dependent solely on her magical energy."_

"_Cough, cough…_that last blow really took its toll on me. At least, I saved Nemesis and now…what the…?! She broke free and she's coming out…Shit!" Shirou shut his eyes down. He felt a strong shockwave which knocked him off his feet and ended up bumping his head on the wall behind him.

Shirou heard noises and screams, but all he could see nothing was a blur; he blinked his eyes and saw two figures, it was Castiel and Sam they were waving at him, trying to see if he was conscious. "_Argh_, my head." Shirou mumbled under his breath.

"Cas, he's bleeding." Sam said.

"We need to get him back to Rin, I can't cure an injury of that degree." Castiel said biting his lower lip annoyed.

"What about them? What about your servant?" Sam asked.

"Nemesis' alive, I can still sense her presence if only faintly. But for her, we can't do anything right now. We'll have to believe she will manage."

Scylla laughed maniacally. "_Hah-hah-hah_. And here I thought, I've seen all of what you had Medusa! To think….that you would go this far…to save your human master." Scylla said panting "Is that boy so important to you Medusa that you would go in such lengths to save him?" Scylla asked in a hateful tone.

"You forced my hand, I now expect you to let me go all out." Rider yelled.

"Oh I will! But not here! A fitting battle between us monsters should be held in an appropriate location. Like the strait of Messina, my personal sea prison where I spent hundreds of years living as the horror the deep." Scylla extended her left skeletal hand and a white light enveloped them.

"No problem by me. It's time to put the muzzle on the dogs…."Rider said in a hissing voice just before the bright light swallowed them both.

* * *

_So, that's for the second part of the battle!_

_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_Leave a review with your thoughts about it and if you like the story follow it for more content!_

_Keep up being awesome!_

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**Stats for Saber**

**Class**: Saber| **True Name: **Nemesis the goddess of retribution and divine punishment.

**Strength** B+  
**Endurance** B-  
**Agility** C+  
**Magical Energy** C+  
**Luck** E  
**Noble Phantasm** A-

**Noble Phantasms: **

**What goes around comes around: **Nemesis' noble phantasm has no real name and no magical energy cost. That ability of hers is just a symbolism of what she represents. She can absorb with no consequences for her half of her target's full strength and empower herself for a short time. The more sinful one has been according to Nemesis the more she can hold unto his powers, but the drawback of hers is that she cannot perform sneak attacks on anyone. She is compelled to reveal her presence to anyone she intends to kill, so they can look her in the eyes as life leaves their bodies. That rule was passed as to prevent her from senseless killing.

The great dog is just a beast, according to Nemesis mindless animals cannot commit sins since they have no conscience to act based upon. That's why the effects of her noble phantasm lasted only that long. Also, the reason she didn't use it earlier on Scylla was because she had to follow the plan they had devised. She was saving it in case the plan didn't work.

**Other skills: **

**Retribution shield:** Nemesis can form a shield around her that raises her resistances and each time she is attacked by a weak attack the shield automatically hits back the attacker. The only cost for that is the activation, she does not have to use any magical energy to sustain it.

**Scales of Fate: **Nemesis as many other gods related to judgement uses scales to decide if someone should be excused or condemned for his crime. If his spirit came up heavy in sins, then Nemesis could banish his spirit to the underworld. In combat she could use it to empower her own attacks or her opponents. She judges hers and her opponent's sins based on unbiased predetermined morals and whoever's comes lighter is being given the weight between their sins as extra power momentarily. This attack is a double edged sword while it may be useful against certain kind of heavy sinners, Nemesis risks getting hit by someone who has less sins than her (yes, she commits sins too, no one is perfect.)

What happened in detail at the battle is the following: She tried to win this battle while her noble phantasm was still in effect and she decided to further empower herself using her scales of fate. She knew that the beast had no sins thus it would be foolish to use it on its spirit, so she used it on Glaucus' one which was inside the dog, but as it turned out her sins were slightly greater than Glaucus' ones so the beast which was sharing the same body with Glaucus got the upper hand in the clash, but only for a small margin. That's why they both ended up seriously wounded. However, when Nemesis' noble phantasm ended the beast took back strength and stood up once again, while Nemesis collapsed due to fatigue.


	29. The monster's nature (part 3)

_At last that battle is finished! I can't believe one and a half years have passed, since I began writing this fanfic. This battle was one of the first ideas, I've had since early planning. I've changed its content a lot during development, but once Medusa was released in SMITE, I knew what had to be done. I know, I'm not following the canon story for FSN for Rider, but I was too excited to pass up that opportunity._

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**One Day earlier, Tohsaka's mansion.**

Once again, things inside the mansion were lively. The group had just finished their planning and Tohsaka along with a few others were going over the details.

"So, all we have to do is place those rocks around the building and then chant the incantation." Sam asked, pointing at a bunch of engraved stones on the living room's table.

Tohsaka frowned displeased. "Okay, first of all they are not rocks, they're runes! Powerful runes infused with lightning magic, do you know how hard and costly it was to for me to gather so many in such a short amount of time?! Emiya-kun after today, I will be eating free at your place for a decade at least." Tohsaka said sharply at Shirou beside her.

"Aye, Aye captain Tohsaka, you'll have warm food and bed anytime at our humble home. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have stuff to prepare too." Shirou replied indifferently and left the room.

"So, Rin I'm no expert at magic, but I do know that runes require some kind of magical power to activate. I'm guessing you will be the one to provide it right?" Castiel asked.

"You're right and in case something goes wrong, you and then Shirou will be the backup sources. Let's just hope that it won't come to that. Shirou as we agreed is supposed to provide ranged support from inside Dean's car, so that he would have some defense to protect him from the collateral damage from the battle."

"Wait…Now, that I recall it, Dean didn't say anything when you suggested to use his car as a meatshield during the planning. Knowing him, I bet he would strongly object to anything involving harm to his car." Sam said bewildered.

"Yeah, I have already figured as much-well, before our planning session, I scolded him! I told him that this is not even the real thing; and that he can conjure it anytime he wants and be in top shape, no matter how many times it get totaled. He agreed, reluctantly nevertheless." Tohsaka said.

"Let me guess, he told you that the emotional damage would have already been done. And that it would scar him permanently." Sam said with a smirk.

Tohsaka's eyes widened "Wow! Did he tell you about our conversation? Those were his words exactly, after he agreed to my suggestion. Honestly, what's the deal with men and their cars?!"

Sam shook his head. "I know him inside and out; and unfortunately his car fetish goes way beyond than the average man."

Tohsaka chuckled at Sam's remark. "Anyway, if Shirou was to leave his positions that would mean that our main force would be fighting without support, that's why he has to stay inside the car and in case Dean's gets seriously injured and can no longer sustain the car, meaning Shirou's cover gets blown, Shirou would have to relocate and provide support from further away to avoid the collateral." Tohsaka explained.

"Still, providing support from inside the car should be hard. Can Shirou really pull it off?" Castiel joined the conversation.

"Don't worry about Shirou. I have total confidence in his abilities. He can even hit a target who's located inside a bulding without having visual contact with them. Visual contact just adds more accuracy, so he can better target the vital parts of his target." Tohsaka explained.

"I have a different question." Sam said. "Cas' grace is in decaying state and he can't use it freely. Are you sure he will be able to energize the runes? Can I activate them if need be?" Sam asked.

"It doesn't require much magical energy to begin with, but if you're feeling uncomfortable I can go with you and Nemesis and Castiel will go with the main group. As for you Sam, I'm afraid you can't activate the runes. Even if I try to teach you the basics of magecraft overnight, the process of creating magical veins inside your body requires more time and practice."

"I don't want the whole plan to change because of me. I will do it, it shouldn't take more magical energy than it took to stabilize your sister back in the hospital that day." Castiel said confidently.

"One last question, how sure are you that Caster won't sense our presence during the battle?" Sam asked.

Tohsaka crossed her legs and took a deep breath. "The point is to trick her into believing that she's fighting less opponents than she thinks she does. That's why Dean and Rider will lead the main assault and Nemesis will join them later as back up. There's no way no matter how good she is to sense us three placing the runes, while she fights three opponents. Even if the fights takes place outside of one of the buildings, where she would be able to see us directly, the only drawback for us would be that we will have to move stealthily so that we won't be seen. But despite where the main fight will happen, you must remember to place the runes be in circle formation around the battlefield; it's imperative for maximum power! When the runes activate, she would be trapped inside an electric cage and get fried alive."

"But Rin, won't our own be trapped inside the circle as well?" Castiel asked.

"No, I've added some engravings in the runes, so that runes would only seek to surround Caster when they activate. I used a sample of her magical energy which I took from the parasite which she has placed inside Sakura." Tohsaka explained.

"I see, placing them in circle isn't going to be really difficult. I have drawn way too many demon traps all these years to know how to make the perfect circle. And we're both used into stealth operations, so don't worry about being seen." Sam reassured her.

"Perfect, since that's all…now, where did my servant vanish to?" Tohsaka quickly scanned the room. "Is she still upstairs?" She mumbled and left the room in a hurry.

Dean was as usual near the drinking table and was putting on his eighth serving of scotch by now; he had emptied alone two bottles of Tohsaka's liquor supplies since the first day. He took a good look around the room. "_Man…a hunter, two witches, an angel, two gods, an exotic mysterious beauty and me a ghost…Or is it two gods and two servants? Technically they are servants too, so is it four servants? Damn, it's too confusing to bother …the settings sounds like the start of a bad joke….Come to think of it I've never learnt Rider's true identity. Should I try asking her now?_" Dean pondered quietly while filling a second glass.

He approached Rider who was standing by the window, gazing at the rainy street. "Hey, how are you doing?" He greeted her and offered her the glass; she turned around and faced him, her eyes fell on the glass; she was more welcoming than usual, but not quite what you would call friendly. "_Well…that's an improvement._" He smiled at her.

She took the glass from his hands and stared blankly at the liquor within; few moments passed like that, before she started speaking. "Ten years ago, me, Shirou and Rin went to save Sakura from destroying herself, we knew it was difficult, but we also knew what we faced and how to stop it. Now, Sakura's in danger again and not only that, she bears a new life within her. Sakura is strong, she'll survive; I've seen it before and I have no doubt she will, but what about the baby? How can you protect a being so fragile? If Caster drains an extreme amount of magical energy from Sakura during the battle, the baby's life would be in danger, but the same goes for our lives too. What would you do then, abandon the fight hoping she will stop draining magical energy from Sakura or keep up the assault and hope the strain doesn't kill the baby." She clenched the glass around her fist.

Dean was left without words, he didn't have a wide knowledge of magic, but he could understand that much and the point she made. "I'm no expert, but I think that during pregnancy, if either the mother or the baby is hurt the other one sends healthy cells to speed up the recovery, maybe the same goes for magical energy."

Rider turned to face him. "So you would act based on a mere hypothesis! Two lives are at stake! And you're saying to me that you will proceed based purely on intuition! " She was angry, her voice and the cold glare she gave him indicated as much.

"I-I didn't mean to-" But it was too late, Rider had already left the living room and headed to the kitchen.

Rider's noise drew everyone's attention, even Tohsaka's who was upstairs with Lancer; she quickly descended the stairs and approached Dean. "So, what did you say to her?" She asked tired; the low tone of her voice and the visible black bags under her eyes were signs that Tohsaka was already overworking herself and that she didn't have the time or patience for this kind of petty disputes.

Dean explained to her what had happened and the only response he got was a sigh of exasperation, followed by a long period of silence. "Does she really think that I would let such a matter at luck?" Tohsaka said after some time.

"What you said it's true Dean, Sakura's body would give magical energy to the baby in case of emergency, but we better be safe than sorry. That's why my servant Lancer would be there. Awilix! Are you done changing clothes? Come downstairs." Tohsaka called her servant.

Footsteps were heard and the sound of boots' heels walking on marble echoed throughout the living room; then a figure jumped from atop the stairwell and landed gracefully on the floor striking a hero's pose on landing. "Let's pour it on!" Awilix shouted energetically; everyone gathered around her, even Nemesis who was sitting quietly at the corner ignoring everyone up until now.

They stared at her trying to make a connection between the Awilix they knew and this one; she was literally a different person. She had her black hair loose down to her shoulders, motorcyclist sunglasses tactfully placed atop of her head; red blouse worn underneath a black leather jacket, zipped up to her belly; different sets of belts around her waist, some of them tighter, some of them looser than the others which gave her a wild style; tight dark blue jeans with thin black steel kneecaps and black leather punk boots with several buckles strapped on them. Because of the tightness of her clothes, her voluptuous figure was even more toned than before; making the leather on her seem as if it was her actual skin.

Tohsaka shook her head exasperated. "_Sigh…_I told her to pick some civilian's clothes to wear and she used as an inspiration a cyberpunk anime which she saw on TV while she was recovering. Now, she won't even hear about other attires. A pity really, because with that figure almost anything looks good on her."

"Well, I couldn't agree more." Dean said as he was trying to take a peek at Awilix's backside.

"Hey! Dean! Concetrate!" Sam snapped him back to reality when he saw his brother zoning out.

"No worries pal…ahem…sorry, I meant master; your sister is safe with me." She said in an experienced voice and gave her a thumbs up.

"Tohsaka, what is she talking about?" Shirou intervened.

"Awilix will be staying by Sakura's side during our battle with Caster and provide Sakura with additional magical energy, so that she won't strain herself or the baby." Tohsaka explained.

"Can she really do that? How will she do it?" Shirou asked curious.

"Well…about that, remember that talk we had a few years back about master –servant and magical energy exchange?" Tohsaka said awkwardly.

Shirou pondered for a moment and then his cheeks turned bright red. "What? Are you serious? Sakura is unconscious….this is a joke, yes?"

Seeing him flustered Awilix stepped in "Afraid I will steal your woman pal?" She said jokingly blinking her eye at him. "Don't worry, just a couple of kisses would be enough to give her some of my magical energy. Do you mind if I use tongue?"

His cheeks turned even redder. "No absolutely not! Okay…maybe… but only if it is necessary." She nodded reluctantly. "Fine, but that's as far as I permit you to act, I don't want you pulling anything strange on Sakura while she's like that." She clicked her tongue as a sign of agreement. Shirou's shoulders dropped relaxed, though he was not still sure if she really meant it.

Awilix suddenly took a serious face. "I won't disappoint you! This is the least I can do since I'm in no condition to fight alongside you." Awilix replied in her usual voice, though calmer than usual.

"Please take good care of her and the baby." Shirou said, bowing his head to her.

Tohsaka stretched her arms and let out a yawn. "Alright with that settled…Hey Rider, I know you can hear us talking, care to join us before we hit the beds?" Tohsaka called her in loud voice.

Rider walked again in the living room and her eyes fixed on Dean. "I'm sorry for my outburst; it was…inappropriate of me." She then faced Awilix. "Lancer, thank you for what you're doing for Sakura. I will repay you someday." She smiled warmly at her.

The memories faded as Rider was smacked back to reality after being hit by another one of Scylla's tentacles; but there was no backing off now, since she went that far, she had to go all out too and because she hadn't used that form for centuries, she was still trying to get accustomed to the overwhelming power flowing inside her. She had basically done the same as Scylla, she assumed her original monster form, the one she had been given when she was cursed by the goddess Athena. She had transformed into the snake monster described in mythology books; a monster half snake, half woman. Her legs became a snake's tail and grew thick green and black scales on it; from the waist up her normally white milk-skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge; her beautiful long purple hair also revealed their true nature, they had transformed into vile green hissing serpents with bright yellow eyes.; and lastly her face was altered to look more like a snake's head, but still retaining the most basic of its human's characteristics, like the mouth and ears; she was still wearing her black combat outfit, though it was tattered.

Rider looked around; she saw nothing but a barren rocky wasteland behind her with some withered trees here and there and in front of her a rocky beach and the ocean, going as far as the eye could see. The sea was stormy and a few meters from the rocky shore there she was, Scylla was floating on the surface. Rider gazed at her, it was too far to use her petrifying gaze on her, but from the looks of it, Scylla wasn't intending to fight her, not yet anyway.

"So, this is your Reality Marble! Is this the Strait of Messina between the sea of Sicily and Italy?" Rider asked.

"Indeed, those are the waters of Sicily in which I used to lurk when I was still alive." Scylla answered.

"You mean alive in the mortal world, because in the world of the gods your spirit carried on."

"As did yours I'm sure, or else you wouldn't be able to assume this form."

"You're correct, it takes a lot of effort and time for a divine being to manifest physically on the mortal world and if his manifestation dies then it takes an awfully long time to try again."

"I don't need a lesson Medusa, I know how all these work. I was killed too remember by Heracles back in the mortal realm, but yet here I stand. I brought you here to discuss and finally end our fight. Just so you know this place is directly connected to the immortal world, if you die here it is final! No more resurrections."

"I know, so what did you want to talk about?" Rider asked, while slithering towards the sea.

"Tell me Medusa, why did you forsake your monster nature and you're trying to live as a mortal among them?" Scylla asked, her voice was weaker than usual, but still dressed with the same hate as before.

Rider stared at her direction, her yellow serpentine eyes widened. "Why you ask?! Because the mortals you so much hate saved me…Sakura saved me and now all I'm doing is returning the favor."

"Saved you? That mortal girl? She couldn't even protect herself when I attacked her. From what exactly did she save you? " Scylla asked as she slowly walked on her tentacles towards Rider.

Rider noticed her movement, but didn't back off an inch. "From myself, from self-loathing, from my lust for revenge and blood. When she summoned me ten years ago, the moment I saw her all I wanted was to rip her throat apart' I could feel the monster inside urging me to kill her!"

"And what stopped you?" Scylla asked approaching her even more and taking out some of the tentacles outside of the water.

Rider's grip on her whip-dagger tightened and she prepared herself. "Primarily, because I wouldn't be able to exist on that realm without her. I had to find a solution first; like you did when you planted that parasite inside her. The strange thing is that this desire to kill her lessened as time went by; somehow, I found peace inside me and those feelings of anger became more and more fleeting by the day."

"Are you serious? You're telling me that a young, inexperienced, weak, mortal girl was able to change the nature of the beast you had inside you for so many centuries?" Scylla was now outside of the water, whole; the dog tentacles around her waist were growling menacingly at Rider.

Rider knew that this would be the last thing to say, so she readied herself, assuming a defensive stance. "It struck me odd as well, perhaps it was the influence of the Holy Grail and she influenced me spiritually, she was my master after all. I may never be able to explain it, but I know for sure that without Sakura I would have ended up rampaging and eventually getting killed by someone with superior strength to me- And one last thing, Sakura is not weak! She's the strongest person I know and if you had formed a proper servant-master bond with her, then maybe you could too be saved-_Hop_"

She didn't quite well finish her sentence and Scylla unleashed a flurry of magical green bullets at her; Rider deflected them easily with her whip and jumped up high; the dog tentacle followed after her and attacked; she was midair, so dodging was out of the question, but her new form allowed for more maneuverability; she wrapped her tail around the first dog, squeezed it and snapped its neck; Rider jumped from dog head to dog head effortlessly, she was either wrapping her tail around their body and swung from one to another or she was snaring them with her whip and was pulling herself towards them; her problem was that she couldn't kill them during the very brief period she was on them, because the other dogs would attack her even if that meant injuring one of their own, they weren't as trained as the other three dogs she had killed earlier. Fortunately for her those were not the real dogs of Scylla's body, but mere substitutes, so she didn't have to worry too much about their strength.

Scylla stared angrily upwards, she understood Rider's position and knew there was no way for her to kill her dogs physically; she knew that Rider had to back away and try a different approach eventually and when she did, Scylla was prepared to strike! Even a divine being wouldn't be able to walk that level of magic off. She watched closely and eventually Rider jumped away from the dog tentacles; Rider looked down at her enemy, Scylla looked up, their eyes met momentarily; from Scylla's hand a powerful magical beam was shot, but it was only a matter of casting delay, as the magi say, that it missed its target.

As soon as Scylla released her charged spell, Rider had already unleashed her attack, not a spell, but something way simpler, poison; concentrated lethal poison that she acquired when she was turned into a snake; if injected into the blood veins the death was quick and really painful and if it came in contact with skin, it caused excruciating pain and severe chemical burns. The poison splashed on Scylla's face causing her to lose control of her spell which exploded in her hands, the explosion ensued an otherworldly scream of pain; Rider went for the coup de grace not wanting to let her suffer a moment longer; she slithered quickly towards her, but stopped as the earth beneath her split apart.

Rider looked at her opponent; her skeletal arm had been dissolved completely from the acid and her other arm was hanging lifelessly, probably damaged severely from the misfired blast, the dog tentacles around her waist were dead as well, the acid had seeped inside their bodies and melted their brains, but Scylla was still standing on the tentacles which used as feet. Rider was amazed by her tenacity and resilience; she had been slashed, stabbed, electrocuted, burnt with acid and she still had that much fight left in her. Rider noticed a change in the scenery, the sea was closer to her now, Scylla was raising the sea level of her reality marble, a feat requiring an enormous amount of magical energy since only to create and maintain one Reality Marble requires a lot too; she was making sure that Rider had nowhere left to run, the sea was Scylla's home after all.

Scylla after screaming her lungs out fell silent, her head was hanging like a puppet's which had its strings cut, she was looking more like a mannequin than a living creature; the sea level rose quickly, but she stood still not moving an inch from her position; Rider watched as the water reached her waist and kept rising, she could swim, all snakes could, but underwater her movements were severely restricted; she saw some bubbles on the water surface and then noticed that Scylla had vanished; the water was already at the level of her head, she could no longer stand inside the water she had to swim to stay above water. It was then that the seemingly calm sea revealed its true nature, twelve tentacles rose above water and proceeded to drag her down; she managed to slip away from them several times before she was finally caught, even her serpentine evasion could go that far. The tentacles dragged her body down to the depths of the abyss.

Rider felt the pressure as she was being dragged deeper and deeper; she was feeling dizzy, her head was throbbing like crazy, the water was freezing cold, but most of all it was her eardrums that were killing her from the sudden change in pressure; she was still holding her breath and had her eyes closed when she felt the movements to stop; Scylla was intending to drown her; she half opened her eyes only to be met with total darkness. She heard a voice in her head; it was Scylla communicating again.

"How do you feel now? Of all the deaths I could give you're forcing me to kill you like a common mortal, like the hundreds I've killed when I was still lurking those waters. After I'm done with you, I'll go back and clean up with the mess I've left at the temple and after that I'm going for your lord and savior, that mortal you call master and kill her too. I won't be needing her for providing me with magical energy anymore, since my mission would be complete. And with her magical capacity I'm sure she will be targeted as possible master from the others; it's better to die in my hands than work for those bastards." Unlike before, Scylla's voice bore no emotions in it, neither rage nor mockery, it was flat and emotionless.

"Mission? Others? Possible master? What are you talking about?" Rider asked surprised.

"What? You don't know! I was sure that the justice-bitch would had already tried to recruit you in their ranks. Hmm….Never mind, it's no use telling you now. Just let go of that last breath and fall dead!" She said in low voice.

"Cockiness is what killed the monster Scylla! You have still not learnt your lesson…." Suddenly, Rider thrashed her body spasmodically; Rider was waiting for that exact moment that Scylla would let her guard down and counter-attack; she knew Scylla would get cocky, she knew that side of hers, because she was like that even when they first met. At last she freed herself from Scylla's grasp and even managed to slice in half most of the tentacles. The remaining tentacles chased after her, but Rider spun around wildly, escaping their cold grasp and in the end, she got rid of them all; she looked around, it was pitch dark, so she used her other senses to guide herself; she launched herself towards a direction using her tail as a propeller.

"C_ough, cough…" _Rider let out some air "_I have to find her now._" She checked her surroundings, still a pure black scenery, but if she was correct Scylla was at her right; she thrust herself forward using her tail as a propeller once again and finally, there was a faint light.

Her vision was blurry, but she could make out the two forms, one was Scylla, all battered up and wounded from the fight and the other one was the body of the great white dog which Shirou had slain earlier. Scylla noticed her and glared at her with eyes full of hate ; she immediately prepared a spell in her palm and Rider readied her petrifying eyes infusing them with all the magical power in her body.

"Why you keep hounding me Medusa!" Scylla tried to throw her spell at her, but a force held her hand back. "What…? Glaucus…?" Scylla said baffled.

Rider watched as Scylla stayed her spell and saw her opportunity; she let out the remaining air she was holding in and thrust forward with all her might; she brought herself face to face with Scylla, grabbing her from the forehead and pulling her eyelids upwards; she then noticed that Scylla was being held back by a ghost, she figured out his identity, but she didn't care for the reason of him being there. Her eyes gleamed red and even though it was underwater and she didn't have a clear line of vision to her, at that distance Scylla was helpless.

Scylla tried to avert her gaze from Rider, moving her eyes around, but even that was pointless at this distance; no matter where she looked she could only see Rider's crimson red eyes piercing her very soul; she could at best delay the petrification a little. She felt her body stiffening she tried to retaliate again with a spell, but Glaucus' spirit stopped her one more time, embracing her from behind.

"Why? Why are you stopping me? I'm doing this for us. So we can start over in a new universe. All this time you were helping me and you supporting me, why now? Is it because I let you die in the battle before?" Scylla asked in a sad voice; she was halfway petrified by now.

Glaucus tightened his embrace and brought his head closer to hers. "I'm sorry my love, but there is something you need to know; I might not get another chance to tell you. All these conversations you had with me the past few years were not with me! It was with Chaos! He was controlling my mind and used me to get to you; thankfully his spell broke when that boy killed my vessel. Even if it is late I wanted you to know that."

Scylla raised both her eyebrows in surprise. "B-but how? It sounded like you, he spoke like you; he even knew all about me like you do." Scylla was on the verge of tears, her voice was about to break, she didn't want to accept that truth, she didn't want to believe that she had failed to recognize the person she held the dearest in her heart.

"He could read my memories as well, my spirit was asleep all this time, I've only realized what was going on a few minutes ago; I had to tell you, even if that meant that I have to use up all of the strength ,that's keeping me here."

"No! Please don't say that! You promised me! Back then, when I bound your soul to that sea monster! You promised me that you will stay by my side forever. Were you lying to me all these centuries?" Scylla asked, a hint of despair in her voice.

"What? Of course not! All I ever wanted was to live by your side until death would do us apart, it turned out that not even death could separate us and that made me extremely happy; the joy and the excitement I felt inside me when I looked at your beautiful face through the eyes of that beast that day was beyond comparison. I wanted to be with you longer, much longer. If only I could warn you sooner this would never have happened. I'm sorry..."

"Don't say that…please…I can't bear to hear you say you're sorry…" She said in low voice, her eyes became wet, tears formed in her eyes and a drop dripped down her burnt cheek.

"Oh Scylla! Even when you cry you are beautiful too, but please don't cry anymore! It isn't you fault, Chaos played us all! Just like he did with almost every single god in his army. When I came around before, I had still some of Chaos' memories in my head, that's why I know that he doesn't intend to keep any of these promises. All of the gods and goddesses under his commands had been fed with lies and joined his cause. The problems is that he would have surely noticed that I'm not under his control anymore; even if you returned to him now, he would kill you, because you have been injured and weakened and so that you won't tell anyone else about his lies. It's better if we both died here at the hands of your friend than serving that bastard one more second—Guh…..my strength is almost gone…Hades is calling me, but I won't answer, I promised to stay with you and I will!" His ghostly eyes met Rider's. "Thank you…" Those were his last words. Unlike Scylla whose magical resistance was unnaturally high even for a divine being, Glaucus was a simple spirit with almost zero magical resistance, that's why he turned into stone immediately.

Suddenly, the water around them vanished they were back in the rocky shore, Rider could breathe again. Scylla was all but her head petrified, her expression had softened somehow after hearing him talk; Rider stuttered and cancelled her mystic eyes, she wasn't sure if all that was a trick to let her guard down, but in this condition Scylla was helpless, so she decided to take a shot. "Scylla…" She called her name softly.

"Weren't you going to kill me?" Scylla asked and faced Rider's gaze directly. Her expression was blank, her eyes hollow. She had completely given up, not only she had been tricked again, but this time she had lost the one person she held dearest, for good this time. Even if she wanted to, her magical energy wasn't enough to hold his spirit in this world anymore. The main reason she had such a large mana pool was because she need a large portion of it, just to keep Glaucus spirit away from the underworld. She had dedicated her whole life adding more and more magical veins inside her, just like Ilya, her body too was full of magical veins.

"What was that talk about Chaos? Did he mean the primordial being?" Rider asked.

"It seems you really don't know a thing Medusa, all that time you've spent in the mortal world left you clueless about what's happening up there. A war is going on and it will be unlike any war between gods that have happened before. Ask that self-righteous bitch, she will tell you the details, she's part of it. All I ever wanted was a fresh new world where I could live with Glaucus, I didn't care if it was as divine beings, or mortals or even animals! Chaos assured me that his new universe would provide me with the life I wanted….of course I was suspicious, that's why I discussed it thoroughly with Glaucus before joining him, but I was a fool! I swallowed his lies one by one and I let Chaos play me like a puppet! Just like when I believed that I would acquire a physical form if I bathed into that pond with the magical potion Circe made me; which made me what I am today. You'd think that I would have known not to trust people with so much power in their hands by now…I'm such a naïve idiot, maybe I deserve this." Her voice was brimming with built up emotions of regret.

"Maybe you do, but that is not a reason to give up. I don't know what the deal with Chaos is, but I intend to learn when I return. I can break the petrification, since it's not complete yet and you can come with me. You can take revenge on him." Rider said sharply.

Scylla put up a faint sad smile "Hah! Listen to yourself, a few minutes ago, you were talking about how you overcame your lust for blood and vengeance and now you're suggesting me to take up arms for such cause….I'm sorry, but I don't care anymore. I have nowhere to go, Chaos will kill me and the others won't trust me even if I told them the truth... I don't like to quote that bitch, but what goes around comes around Medusa! Even if I could go back in time and prevent myself from joining him, I'm sure something equivalently bad would have happened to me. How the mortals say it….Ah yes, Karma is a bitch! And we always pay for our choices."

"So, you want me to finish the petrification?" Rider asked.

"Yes, Glaucus sacrificed himself to save me from that sea of lies in which I was drowning without even knowing it; he said that he wanted to spend eternity with me. So be it then, I was the one who asked him that in the first place. I can't go back now! Do it! I will close the remaining of my magical veins, so that the transformation would be instant." Scylla said in a pleading voice.

Rider understood her feelings, she knew very well how it feels to lose your closest people and friends. The same had happened with her and her sisters, she had feasted on their blood and then ate them both while they were still alive. And that's what drove her insane until finally she died in the hands of Perseus.

"Very well!" She said stoically and activated her mystic eyes. "Look deep into my eyes!" Her eyes lit up and Rider projected her magic, just like a beam directly into Scylla's retinas, the effect was instantaneous. "Goodbye…I'm sorry I couldn't do more to save you both."

Rider looked at the statue of the two lovers, Scylla was smiling, a warm radiant smile the kind of which Rider hadn't seen on her lips for centuries. Why she was smiling? To spend all eternity being embraced by your soulmate, she had no reason to be sad.

Rider felt the world trembling around her; the Reality Marble was breaking apart now that Scylla was dead. Rider closed her eyes, the world was whirling around her, she felt her body moving and finally she felt the cold touch of the marble floor of the temple.

"Rider! You're back! Are you okay? What happened in there?" Rider heard multiple running footsteps approaching and Shirou shouting at her; she opened her eyes slightly, she was her back to her usual self, no side of effect of that transformation thankfully; she didn't want Shirou to see her hideous form; and she hoped that after all these, Castiel and Sam wouldn't say what they saw to anyone.

She felt a hand at the back of her head, its touch was gentle, but it still hurt, she was too tired to complain though. "Rider, tell me, is it over?" Shirou asked, she nodded at him with a faint smile.

Shirou felt his eyes becoming wet, he instinctively brought his sleeve to wipe the tears off, but they came back again. "You saved them Rider, you did what all of us couldn't. I have no words to express how grateful I am!" Rider noticed that everyone had gathered around them; Tohsaka, Dean, Sam, Castiel even Nemesis was there, but then she saw two additional figure behind the others.

"Well, well, well, what a tear jerking moment I chose to arrive, perhaps I should have called beforehand" Everyone turned around and glared at the two figures.

"Crowley…!" Dean clenched his fist tightly and drew his blade. It was natural after all; he hadn't forgotten or forgiven what Crowley had done to him; he was still looking to settle the score.

"What do you and your servant want here demon?" Tohsaka asked him.

Crowley was unfazed by their attitudes and responded calmly to them. "Good evening Dean, moose, everyone. Before you plunge your blades through my chest, would you care to hear me out?" They ignored him and moved threateningly towards him, everyone except Rider and Shirou.

Assassin stepped forward. "It's about Chaos and his army, I'm talking to you Saber! It is time to tell them the truth! I bet your master here doesn't know what this war is about either." Nemesis pace slowed down and clicked her tongue, she didn't need eyesight to see that all eyes were staring at her, then a low voice broke the silence, it was Rider's.

"Before she died, she warned me about Chaos. Scylla told me to ask you Nemesis. I know that you're hiding things from us. It's time to come clean and explain yourself!" Her voice was weak; she had already strained herself too much and just talking out this loud was a torture for her.

"So she's dead too, that leaves zero of the Chaos' servants in the mortal realm…" Assassin mumbled under his breath.

"Chaos 'servants?" Tohsaka repeated confused, who managed to hear his rambling.

"I can explain everything to you dimwits, but you have to put your weapons down first." Crowey said while raising his hands in the air sighing frustrated.

"I don't trust him..." Dean said angrily and pointed the First blade at Crowley neck.

"Wait! Dean, Archer used to tell me about a war of the gods currently going on, what if that Chaos guy is related?"

"But she said that the wars of the gods don't concern our universe, right?"

"What if she was wrong or…lying to me Dean? I've already told you that her mysterious behavior made me angry quite a few times. From time to time she was so lost in her thoughts she wouldn't even listen to me. And when I asked her, she strongly refused to tell me anything!"

Dean clicked his tongue annoyed and withdrew his blade. "Okay..." he faced Crowley and glared at him "If you try anything you'll be dead in an instant…Talk!" Dean said commandingly.

"Very well then…" Crowley tightened his black costume and cleared his throat. "Let's start from the beginning…."

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_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_The curtain finally fell on this big battle!_

_What do you think about its conclusion? I hope I didn't make it sound too cliché._

_I'd also really like to hear your thoughts about the new plot-twist, I've presented._

_Leave a review with your thoughts about it and if you like the story follow it for more content!_

_Keep up being awesome!_

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**Stats for Caster**

**Class**: Caster| **True Name: **Scylla (the sea monster from Greek mythology)

**Strength** D  
**Endurance** B  
**Agility** D  
**Magical Energy** EX  
**Luck** E  
**Noble Phantasm** A

**Noble Phantasms: **

**Horror of the deep: **Scylla can freely switch between her human form which takes magical energy to sustain and her monster form which requires none. She has two stages, the first is the one she grows dog tentacles underneath her and uses them to fight or move around. And the second stage is her divine form. During either form she receives a boost in all her stats, with the divine form receiving a greater boost than the other.

**Depths of Sicily: **Her reality Marble, the strait of Messina between the seas of Sicily and Italy is a place she's spent hundreds of years, before she was finally slain by Heracles and lost her physical manifestation to the mortal realm. Due to her connection with the place, she grew a natural affinity in these waters and when she was summoned as a servant, the ability to create that realm was granted to her.

**Other skills: **

**Summon Dog Familiar : **Despite the four dogs Ajax, Achilles, Cyril and Zoey who are a part of her body and she can command them or even detach them as she likes, the rest of the dog familiar she uses are just the creation magic. Scylla had to delve deep into the mysteries of summoning magic, in order to summon and bound Glacus' spirit to the sea monster, so her knowledge of summoning magic is only second to Hecate the actual mother of all magecraft.

**Crushing traps: **Normally anyone with the required knowledge can place a magical traps on the ground that would go boom once someone step on it or when detonated. Scylla had taken this a step further and managed to add an additional effect in her magic; the effect to sap one's magical resistance at the cost of some power.


	30. Golden Truth

_This chapter is the big turning of the story and thus after this chapter the next update will be in a few months, because I need time in order not to screw things up from here( also midterm exams...). One thing I've learnt while writing is that the more details and characters you add the higher the chance is to create plot holes later on._

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_The title of this chapter is a tribute to the visual novel Umineko which inspired me to make such a big plot twist.  
__**Golden Truth: **__The real truth behind the truth mixed with lies that is only known by the one behind it all. (That's the gist of it.)_

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_Location: Hell, time: unknown._

The last few days have been busy for the king of Hell. Ever since the day, the trap Crowley set up for Dean was foiled by Sam and his servant Archer, Crowley's plans turned 180 degrees; the shocking truths he heard from his servant about the ongoing Holy Grail war, forced him to change his perspective and thus his plans. Crowley had sent his most capable agents all over the world, Europe, Africa, Asia, America and Australia, in order to confirm whether or not what he learnt from his servant was true.

Assassin was walking silently with his head down among the demons of the underworld, most of them didn't even pay attention to him or even notice him. Due to the nature of his servant class and his identity as god of trickery and deceit, walking unnoticed in crowds was something he was very good at, even without having to turn invisible. Assassin was heading for Crowley's throne room to give him his update; he hadn't seen or spoken to Crowley since the day he left for the realm of the gods.

The door to the throne room knocked twice. "Come in." Crowley's voice was heard from outside.

The door opened and a man with pale gray, heavily wrinkled skin walked inside. He walked in front of the throne and did a deep bow. "Greetings king! I bring news about the assignment you tasked me with." The man slowly raised his head and faced Crowley with his wrinkled chestnut eyes.

"I'm listening" Crowley replied expressionlessly.

He spoke in a hoarse and deep voice. "I travelled all around the world as you commanded and researched all the points of interest as you instructed me. The situation is indeed as you have guessed. Many ley lines are behaving weirdly; they are overflowing with magical energy. That would explain the elevated paranormal activity in some countries."

Crowley didn't respond immediately, he took a moment to analyze the new information in his head and think his next move. "I see, well done, take the rest of the day off." He said briskly "On your way out inform the rest to be on standby. Dismissed."

"Yes my king." He said as he bowed again and slowly walked to the exit while bowing.

When the door closed Crowley sighed and shook his head disappointed. He reached for his glass when he noticed a presence. "So, you're finally back!" He spoke in loud and clear voice, his eyes fixed at the dark corner of his room.

From there, Assassin emerged from the shadows; he had completely suppressed his presence until now in order to avoid unwanted attention. Except for Crowley no one had noticed him entering the room nor the demon who left earlier, neither the guards stationed outside the room. "Greetings master." Loki spoke in his usual deep voice.

"I guess your report further proves his findings, right?" Crowley said judgmentally.

"I understand you're still upset with me, about withholding vital information from you and then leaving on my own without sufficient explanations, but you have to understand that I have my orders as well." Loki made an effort to calm him down, noticing the tension in the air.

"Upset? No, no, no, I'm not upset! I'm just freaking furious!" Crowley barked loudly. "In fact, I don't even know why I still keep you alive! I don't even know if what you're going to tell me from now on would be true or not. I have no idea what you did, or who you met with, during your so called mission. And you want me to not be upset?!" he stopped to take a breath and then lifted his head; his brown round eyes met with Assassin's hollow, white evil-looking eyeballs.

Loki though, used to threats and angry glares didn't even twitch an eyebrow; instead he waited for his master to vent off his anger before talking to him. "Now then, since you're calmer now. Shall I tell you what I found?" Loki asked.

"Before that, care to tell me why you look completely different from before?" Crowley asked curious.

He didn't notice it before, because he was hidden, but once he revealed himself, Crowley noticed that his servant had undergone an extreme makeover. The person before him was definitely Assassin, he had the same aura and the same voice, but his appearance had changed completely. He no longer looked like a frail old man ready to crumble with a single push. His skin was no longer grayish, it was rosy pink and his complexion was that of a young adult, not one wrinkle on his face. His clothes were mostly the same, a fine leather set of armor consisting of a vest, pauldrons, gloves, pants and boots, but unlike before they now had an icy blue hue, instead of a dull orange one. Also, the decorative snake shaped protrusions emerging from his back were gone and instead two curved horns were attached on his cap.

"I figured that since I revealed you my purpose here, I should at least let you see my true face and not one of my masks." Loki replied politely.

Crowley spit on the ground angrily "The only reason I don't kill you on the spot is because what you said before you left. It might actually be true after all."

"What your servant said before is all true. The boundaries between the planes of existence are breaking apart. The increased supernatural activity is proof of that and it will get worse for your world as our war continues."

"Yeah, yeah, the world will burn and people will die. I've already survived one apocalypse and emerged king of Hell afterwards. Do you think a mere war between pagan gods will hinder me? Besides hasn't Lucifer already slew the major ones during the apocalypse?"

"I hate to break it to you, but there are things that even you demons or those angels don't know; what he killed was only their earthly manifestations who were left behind from centuries ago; in reality most of those so called pagan gods as you say, are equal or even surpass Lucifer and Michael in terms of strength. This war I'm talking about, is not something you're prepared for. Imagine several divine beings as powerful as Lucifer and Michael fighting for dominance. Your world barely survived the last apocalypse. Do you really think you can manage alone? If so, then I should depart along with the information I 've gathered." Loki turned his back to him, snapped his fingers and a portal appeared.

Crowley clicked his tongue annoyed. "_Tsk…_ok, I will listen to what you have to say, but in case I don't like it, our contact ends here." A smile of satisfaction formed on Loki's lips when he heard those words.

He closed the portal and turned around assuming his previous attitude. "Right….well about that. The thing is, you can't break the contract, unless….I want to."

"What?" Crowley barked.

"I told you before I left that this Holy Grail war is bogus. The magic you used to summon me may have been the same, but not the same rules apply. In fact, except for the summoning and the servant classes nothing else is as you may think. The Holy Grail war you've read of is something humans invented for their own reason to; a means to fulfill their greedy desires. This one, is a false Holy Grail war which created by the forces of Order, as a way to combat the forces of Chaos." Crowley looked at him slightly confused.

"Forces of Chaos and Order? What in the bloody hell are you talking about?" He asked half angry.

Loki took a deep breath and exhaled. "It's kind of a long story, so I'll give you the short version."

Crowley frowned displeased "You better not skip any parts…" he said in a serious voice.

Loki took a deep breath and started talking. "So, a long time ago long before the age of mortals and even before the age of Gods the whole universe was in a hot dense state, then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started and that's when Chaos was actually born or should I say began….anyway, from him many other entities emerged, we gods call them the primordial forces of the universe such as Time, Space, Life, Death and Order; the one who reigned above those four forces was Order who lead them all and created the universe as we know it."

"And I guess that Chaos didn't like it?" Crowley asked.

"Surprisingly he did like the idea of Order, at first at least! His vision was to have a fully functioning universe to rule, but at the same time he didn't want to do anything about it and let things work out by themselves; that's the definition of chaos after all. When Order proposed this, he accepted her idea and let her do as she pleased. At the time he considered her proposal as a happy coincidence for his plans. Thanks to Order the other forces evolved, for instance from Life emerged other meanings such as love, hate, happiness, sadness and all the aspects of life you can think of; whereas Death created the meanings of pain, sorrow, agony etc. Time was divided into past, present, future and created the meaning of infinity and Space became the placeholder for the universe which was about to be born which in turn was divided into several planes of existence, such as the mortal realm, the divine realm, the realm of the dead etc."

Loki noticed that Crowley was staring at him suspiciously for a while, suddenly he snapped. "What kind of horseshit is this? Do you seriously expect me to believe that this is how the universe was created!" he stood from his chair. "That's contradictory to every religion's theory of how the universe came to be not only mine!"

"Please master, there's more. Sit comfortably, because I haven't reached the main part yet."

Crowley rolled his eyes frustrated, but did as his servant asked him. "As, I've said many new entities emerged from the primordial ones; some of the entities combined with one another, others split up and the end result was the birth of even more new entities and aspects of the universe. One of those entities was Divinity or Godhood, if you want to call it like that."

"So what? From that entity called Divinity the gods came up?" Crowley asked.

"Indeed, but not directly. There were several more splits before the gods from mythology came to be. Why do you think that all major religions of both the past and present have parthenogenesis as their main principle of how their gods or divine beings were born? Isn't it the same in your religion too? About how Jesus came to be? It's because that the very being of religion was born that way." Loki stopped talking and waited for Crowley to process this information.

"I don't want to admit it, but what you are saying it's true, yet you have no proof of it. How do I know that you didn't just come up with it? You lied to me before, so why should I believe you? Also you haven't told me why that Chaos fellow and that Order gal are fighting since she did what he wanted and created his universe for him."

"I can't show you any proof! But I can lead you to the people who have it; so I'm guessing you don't really have a choice on that matter. As for the reason of the war, it is laughably stupid; Chaos wants the reins of universe back from Order. He said that she's done enough and it's time for his reign to start, but Order didn't want to hand over her creations to someone else, so she refused, saying that he no longer have claim over them and that this was her universe now. Of course Chaos was outraged with that, so he started a war against her to take back what was originally his."

"Funny! You'd think that those two beings would have a higher cause to wage war, but I guess it all comes down to power." Crowley said sarcastically and let out a small chuckle.

"Since all the other higher entities were now split into lesser ones, they realized that the second most powerful force beyond them were the divine beings, so they began forming their armies with gods and goddesses and divine creatures from all religions."

"You say from all religions, then why aren't demons or angels summoned."

"I think you already know the answer master. You had some part in it after all."

"You mean the Apocalypse?" Crowley asked.

"Exactly! And whatever ensued after it. The most powerful angel and demon are banished and are beyond any reach and the other two Archangels are killed. As for the servants of Hell the only ones who qualified for this war were the knights of Hell and I don't think I need to keep talking do I? Just for your information, I know about all your devilish plans and I approve them." Loki said in low voice with an evil smile on his lips.

"As if I needed your approval! Even so, it can't be only them. There are more demons and even angels on that matter that are quite powerful, take me for example!" Crowley said with a slight arrogance in his voice.

"With all due respect master, but you are way over your head if you think you can challenge those beings up there. I can kill you before you can blink an eye and I'm not even close to the strongest ones up there. The same goes for the rest of the angels of course."

"You said Gods right? What about the one who is the father of the angels and demons?"

"Ah that fellow, I'm sorry, but He's out of our radar along with a handful of other Gods from other religions. We completely lost track of them a while back. Who would have thought that they would abandon earth when their religions were thriving though?

"That guy?! Is he really alive? You sound as if you met Him." Crowley said bewildered.

"It's not like I know Him personally, but I know about Him in general, though I have no idea why He and the others have fled. Maybe they predicted that a war would soon break out and ran for their lives, I can't say I blame them. I wish I had joined them" Loki said with a slight hint of envy in his voice.

"Right…." Crowley said unconvinced "Though, you still haven't told me the reason behind this fake Holy Grail war."

Loki let out an ironic chuckle and Crowley gave him an angry glare. "Sorry, that wasn't meant for you, but for the others." He apologized.

"You keep calling them _others, _to whom are you referring to?" Crowley asked.

"The warriors of Order of course, they play the part of the righteous and noble creatures who want to bring salvation to the world where in truth there are the ones who are afraid the most. You see, if Order loses to Chaos then Divinity will return to its primal state, chaos. The gods will be reborn through chaos, but nothing will be the same. You see, all of those pricks up there, they are afraid of losing their current luxuries or be reborn as the gods of slimes."

"Don't you care about what happens to you?" Crowley asked.

Loki laughed loudly "Me?! Care?! What for?! All I care is about having some fun from time to time, that's all! My only and ultimate goal is to bring the start of Ragnarok, but that won't happen now since my son Fenrir who is supposed to do it is now the puppy dog of Chaos."

"Fenrir? I thought that according to Norse mythology he was to be held in chains until the time for Ragnarok comes, then he would break free and destroy the world whilst his sons eat the sun and the moon."

Loki clapped his hands mockingly, but only for a while "You know your history well master! It seems though that my dear mongrel of a son doesn't. The prophecy says that he would break free alone! Not with the help of freaking Chaos!  
My son thinks that the prophecy is metaphorical and that this war is in truth his Ragnarok_…_  
What am I supposed to say to his sister Hel or his brother Jörmungandr? They were preparing for Ragnarok for centuries and now the main star decides to leave." Loki shook his head disappointed ad sighed.

Crowley smirked sarcastically. "I guess even Gods have family issues! But you still haven't exactly answered my first question. Why do they want me?" Crowley asked.

Loki got serious again. "No, I haven't. Well, to put it simply. You are just tools for the warriors of Order, intended to be used as the trump card against Chaos. And I'm here fighting for them, because as much as I hate those pretentious noble pricks, I hate as much and even more the idea of my son's losing the chance to bring the true Ragnarok."

Crowley blinked surprised. "Let me get this straight, you don't want the world to end, so you can end it later yourself with your kids?" Loki nodded and Crowley widened his eyes, weirded out. "And to think I was calling the Winchesters crazy? You got serious family issues. Anyway, what was that thing about using _us _as trumps cards, who are _us_?"

"Isn't it obvious? The people who are participating into the Holy Grail war and have managed to summon a warrior of Order." Loki answered in a slightly sharper tone, he was growing tired of this conversation, but he had been tasked to see it through.

Crowley rubbed his chin skeptically "Hmm…besides me there is Moose and—"

Loki interrupted him "If by Moose you refer to Archer's master then you're wrong; Archer died in her fight against Chaos' Berserker. As for Chaos' Caster, she's fighting them as we speak. There are only four servants remaining and one of them is not even a god."

"Ah yes, Dean, right?! I've been meaning to ask it, but I kept forgetting. Why was Dean summoned as a servant to a fake Holy Grail war which was created by your people? And also you mentioned Chaos servants! Who are they?"

Loki sighed tired. "You know some of them up there will be really glad to answer your questions in detail if you ask them. The short story is that the summoning ritual was performed prematurely; the official war wasn't supposed to start for another day or two, but since you performed the ritual earlier, I'm guessing that that Dean's summoning as servant occurred as an unwanted side effect later on. Moreover, when you initiated the summoning ritual we believed that it was Chaos' trap and those sons of horkers up there ordered me to get down, not giving a damn if I died. That's why I appeared in that form before you, to hide my true identity-"

"But you did tell me your name when I asked." Crowley interrupted.

"Yes, because I was certain after a while that you weren't a minion of Chaos. I believed that with you being the king of Hell, it would make my mission easier. But it all went wrong when that grief-stricken brother attacked us."

"By mission you mean killing Dean and his master? I remember the plan you proposed that involved taking over that witch's body, so that we would take them by surprise. But how would Dean's death help your plans?" Crowley asked.

"It would free up a servant's place so another warrior of Order could be summoned, but it didn't work out in the end. As for the Chaos' servants, it is simple! Chaos was somehow informed about our plans and managed to reserve two servants' spots for his warriors. Their mission was to eliminate or fight to death any Order's warrior that they would encounter. Whereas Order's mission was to gather as many mortals as possible and evaluate if they were appropriate, so they could use them in their war later on."

"Hmm…then if you worked together with Moose's servant why did she fight us? Shouldn't she want the same as you? Eliminating Dean and freeing up a servant spot?" Crowley asked curious.

"Well…we were ordered to follow most of our masters' wishes with some exceptions in order to keep up appearances for the sake of the mission…though that bitch went overboard! I knew that she was mentally unstable since she killed her brother in battle, but to go as far as to injure me for real…I still have the scar her boar gave me!" Loki complained.

"I remember….it was a nasty wound. And to think that after I've helped you recover, you ran off…"

"I did say you that this war was bogus and that if you wanted proof to look for elevated monster activity." Loki added.

"What was I supposed to make of it huh? Even when I received the report a while ago, it didn't make sense to me how some supernatural activity has anything to do with the Holy Grail war, but after hearing your explanation it is clear I think. If indeed there is war; it is causing the planes of existence to crumble a bit by bit, therefore more and more monsters are escaping in our world. And it will only get worse."

"I'm glad you're such an understanding person!" Loki said in a polite voice.

"Spare me your pleasantries!" Crowley barked at him. "And with what are they going to convince us to fight for them? Do they think that they will simply follow them?" He asked annoyed.

"They can't exactly force you to fight, but they can suck you dry of magical energy in order to empower their warriors. It won't exactly kill you, but imagine now the king of Hell being even weaker than the lowest demon. Imagine what could possibly happen?" Loki said with a devilish smile on his lips.

"Is that supposed to be a threat? I'm still your master and don't you forget it. I have those command seals and I can make you do anything I want to. Even make you kill yourself." Crowley said angrily with a dark expression on his face, but his servant reaction left him speechless.

Loki burst into a maniacal laughter. "Hahahahaha….And here I thought that you were smart! Haven't I already told that his Holy Grail is fake?" Crowley froze for a moment and then he furiously knocked over his drink along with the table it was on.  
Loki continued to laugh and mock him. "Ohohohohahahahah-_Cough-Cough-Cough_…Everything is fake, the command seals, the rewards…everything-hehehe" His mad laughter drilled into Crowley's eardrums as annoyingly as the sound of a creaking door or a dripping faucet.

Crowley gritted his teeth and tried to speak normally, but it was painfully obvious that he had been tricked and now he was forced to participate even if he wasn't planning to. "So that means that if I use a command seal on you, you can choose if you want to do it."

"Indeed! I might feel slightly compelled to do it though, it is supposed to copy all the effects of a real Holy Grail war. But in the end it is all a matter of my own will. Every Order servant that was sent here had been instructed to obey all of his masters' wishes, except for the extreme ones, such as if their master ordered them to kill themselves. The order was to kill any masters who gave such commands in order to silence loose ends! But don't worry, I'm not intending to kill you!  
It would be a pain for me to find another master and also I believe that if you help us you might also have something to gain if it all ends well. Imagine, the prestige and power you shall gain as the demon who helped vanquish an ancient force."

Crowley angrily kicked the round standing table in front of him, causing it to roll to the other side of the room. "Don't try to sugarcoat it, I know what you think. Judging by how you recruited us, I doubt if you are going to give us anything in return, but even though I won't gain anything I don't want to lose my current position as king of Hell, so I will help you in your little war as your master and I will help you convince the others too." A wry smile of satisfaction formed on Loki's lips as he heard those words.

Total silence ensued after Crowley was finished with his story; it was so quiet that you could clearly hear the rustling of the leaves of the trees around the temple's courtyard. Everyone was in shock, trying to grasp what they had just heard from him. All eyes were focused on Nemesis who according to Loki she was one of Order's warriors, along with Lancer and the now deceased Archer. They were staring at her suspiciously, unsure about what to believe until they had heard her side of the story. She slowly walked away from the wall she was leaning on, since her leg was still injured from the fight with Scylla and approached Loki, her brisk pace indicated anger; she stood in front of him, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up and holding him there without flinching from pain; he didn't resist at all, only smiled satisfied.

"Is this how you repay our gratitude by letting you stay with us? By undermining our efforts?!" She yelled furious; her grip loosened slightly and she cringed as pain overrun her body, but she suppressed it and continued.  
"We would have told them when it was time, we had to see if they were fit to battle Chaos. Did you think that we would just toss them out there if we knew they didn't stand a chance?! We are not looking for cannon fodder, but true warriors who can stand beside us as equals in the battlefield. It may seem a game to you, but this war means a lot for us and even if we had to trick them, we wouldn't stoop so low as to send mortals to die in vain in a war we ought to fight." Nemesis' outburst was met with mixed reactions.

Castiel snapped. "How could you hide such a thing from me Nemesis? Five minutes ago I thought I could trust you with my life, but now I realized what a big fool I am! You want us to fight for you in your war! You tricked us into forming an unbreakable contract and not only that I learn all these from my enemy!" His face was a mixture of disappointment and anger.

"Cas is right! I mean, you were actually going to let them kill me, only because I was unwillingly summoned into this freaking war of yours!" Dean yelled furious at Nemesis while pointing his finger at Loki's and Crowley's position.

Shirou clenched his fist angered. "While I understand the graveness of the situation, I can't forgive you! You and your fellows are to blame for Sakura's current state. Just because you couldn't solve your problems among yourselves, you dragged us all into your war and she got hurt. This might be the first time I regret saving someone's life." Shirou looked away from her; he was referring of course when a while back he saved her from Caster's white dog.

Nemesis violently tossed away Loki and faced Dean. "I'm sorry we targeted you, many of us didn't agree with the plan, me included, I'm against senseless murder, but it had to be done, unfortunately! In the end we agreed to go with that plan, because you had already lost your physical body, so by killing you we would basically be helping your spirit move on to the afterlife."

Nemesis fell silent, before facing Castiel, she bowed her head as a sign of apology. "Castiel…I know you considered me your comrade and I betrayed your trust, but it was crucial for what is to come. If you cannot forgive me, I can understand your decision. But still allow me to express my regret and to say that in the short time we had been together as master and servant you have treated far better than most of my kind had treated for centuries and for that I will always be grateful."

Lastly she faced Shirou with her head still lowered. "I can't begin to express how sorry I am for what happened to your partner!" her voice sounded sincerely apologetic. "I have absolutely no excuses to give you. The blame is all ours, we had to be better prepared, but Chaos outplayed us once again. Before we know it, he had overtaken those two servants' spots and summoned his warriors near the strongest magic users in the vicinity. One was the ghost of that girl in the castle and the other was your girlfriend. I assure you when I go back I will do anything in my power to help restore your girlfriend in the way she was, before Scylla assaulted her."

"Damn it!" Tohsaka kicked the ground angrily, Shirou looked at her curious. "If only I had arrived a day earlier, but I decided to book the next day's flight because it was cheaper. At least then, Caster would have been summoned near me and Sakura wouldn't have to pass through hell again."

Shirou made an effort to prevent her from blaming herself. "Don't say that Tohsaka! Sakura would be devastated if something happened to you. What do you think you could have done against her?! Sakura survived by pure luck thanks to the magical energy protecting her vital organs and keeping her to life until the medics arrived. Besides, Sakura is stable now and she will recover soon since we killed Caster and that bug inside her is gone." Shirou put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her warmly looking her straight in the eyes.

Tohsaka's eyes got a little teary, but quickly blinked away the newly formed tears and smiled back at him "Thank you Shirou, now excuse, but I have to make a call to my servant. I want to check up on Sakura's condition and also to ask a few questions, she has a lot to answer for." Tohsaka walked away from the company with her cellphone in hand; Shirou noticed that her expression darkened when she mentioned Lancer; Tohsaka could become quite scary even without the command seals; Shirou was sure that Lancer would suffer for tricking her and lying to her so hard, not that he pitied her after the revelations he just heard.

Sam was pacing up and down lost in his thoughts since he heard Nemesis's confirmation, then suddenly he approached Nemesis and asked her. "If you were sending warriors to find allies why did you trust him?" He pointed at Loki with an exasperated look on his face. "He is the freaking god of deceit and trickery, even if he says that he supports your cause, why would you trust him with such a vital mission?" His questions were something that everyone wanted to ask, but were too emotional to think clearly.

Nemesis cleared her throat. "You're right we shouldn't, but we were forced to! Because of what your brother did."

"Leave my brother out of this!" Sam warned her.

"Even if I wanted to, I can't! He is part of it now whether he likes it or not; what he did, in order to break free from the spell that demon had him under, disturbed our plans and forced us to begin earlier than we had anticipated. We already had rushed our plans since Chaos had dispatched his servants before us and your brother's actions ended up causing a paradox in our Holy Grail. Thus, he ended up being summoned as a servant later on even though only us Gods were supposed to be summoned." Nemesis explained to him calmly.

Sam remained silent for a while before answering and when he did his voice was filled with anger. "Maybe if you had taken better care of your grand plan! Then Artemis wouldn't have died like she did and she would still be here right now. Tell me, did she really believe what she said to me? That she could resurrect her brother if she participated in this war? Was that also a lie? I can't bring myself to believe that those eyes lied when she told me that."

Nemesis lowered her head and hesitated to speak for a moment and Sam noticed it. "I know what you think. You think that we are scums who tricked her into joining, but that's not the truth. In fact, before she was summoned by you I was the one who was about to go in her place, but she stopped me. She told me that she needed to do this, even if she knew that this Holy Grail was fake. I think that deep down she secretly hoped that even though this war was a replica of the original Holy Grail war that it could still grant one single wish. She wasn't lying to you when she told you that, but she was also deceiving herself."

Sam rubbed his forehead puzzled. "How can this be?"

"Oh! Come on now Moose, didn't you do the same when your beloved brother died in your arms a week ago. You kept trying to resurrect him, even though you knew it was impossible. It was fun to watch at first, but it became really boring after the tenth failure." Crowley barged in their conversation and commented in his usual arrogant tone.

"Shut your trap Crowley!" Sam shouted angry.

"I was going to tell you the truth tonight! Once we were back home after this mission and the last Chaos servant had been vanquished. I'm sorry you had to learn it in this manner! I understand that you might have things to discuss, so I will leave you to yourselves for now; I still have some things to talk about with that two-faced snake over there." Nemesis apologized once again and walked towards Loki's place forcefully dragging him away from the others.

"So darlings, what will it be?" Crowley asked with a smug smile on his face which only lead to the others glaring at him even more scornfully than before.

Nothing, no response, everyone was quiet and skeptical, lost in their thoughts. "Guys…" Shirou tried to break the ice, after seeing the grim expressions on their faces, but he was ignored.

"Snap out of it!" Crowley suddenly shouted annoyed at Dean, Sam and Castiel "It's not the first time you two get lied upon, you lie to each other all the time in order to _protect _yourselves. You should have gotten used to it by now." He said in a pompous voice.  
"And you! Castiel, are you seriously depressed, because a person you barely knew kept things from you? My servant lied to me as well and I've already told you all how much I wanted to kill him at the moment. Get over it and let's decide what we should do. Whether you like it or not a new Apocalypse is around the corner and is drawing near. And I sure as hell, don't want my Hell destroyed. Got that?" He said determined, his eyes sparking.

Castiel clicked his tongue slightly annoyed, he got schooled by Crowley, but eventually agreed with him. "He's right! None of us likes how things turned out, but we'll have to cooperate to prevent another disaster."

"Yeah Cas, that's nice and all, but how do you know we're fighting for the good guys? Last time during the apocalypse we knew who our enemy was! Now we go in the dark without any actual proof. Would you trust those people to fight side by our side? How can you know what they told us is true."

"Sam's right Cas, I know how it seems at first, chaos is bad, order is good, but what if they are both wrong and they both intend to harm the Earth afterwards; after all to them we are just puny mortals who live our everyday lives. They tricked us into joining them and if what Crowley said about sucking our strength if we don't cooperate, is true, then I don't want to have anything to do with them." Dean added.

Crowley exhaled frustrated. "Those two idiots always agree on the worst occasions. Put some sense into their brains if you please Castiel."

Castiel looked each one straight in the eyes, before opening his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted. "The threat is real! Chaos is the one we should worry about, Scylla warned me about him, before I killed her; just a little before she died she learnt that she had been tricked from Chaos as well; At first I didn't understand what she was talking about, but now that I've heard the whole truth I know what she meant." It was Rider who has been quiet all this time.

She slowly stood up from the wall she was leaning on and spoke in a low, yet determined voice. "The world may seem chaotic as it I now, but there is order in chaos, meaning things happen for a reason. If we take out that order then random things, good or bad will happen for no reason at all and nothing would come out them; evolution will stop, things will just…happen! If that sounds confusing, let me give you an example about how total chaos would work. Imagine, spending your entire life saving up to open a restaurant, you save money, find a place to settle in, hire staff and put your whole being to this shop, only to go on its opening day and place a bomb inside and blow the place apart." Sam, Dean and Shirou stared at her with puzzled looks.

"But why?" Shirou asked.

"Total chaos won't affect only our random events, e.g. a leaf falling from a tree, it will affect the minds of all people and cause them to act totally unpredictable. As if they were mental patients—sorry, not even that, even worse. Mental patients act crazy, but even then there are a few patterns which you can observe in most cases. If total chaos ensues then mental patients may become the most normal thing you will encounter." Rider started coughing and Shirou ran to her side stabilizing her foothold in order not to fall.

"I believe Rider made her point and I have nothing else to add, so what are your answers?" Castiel asked calmly.

Dean and Sam exchanged glances and nodded to each other as if they understood what each other had to say. "_Sigh…_Seems to me that we are in yet another between a rock and hard place situation Dean? What do you say jump or swim?"

Dean smiled confidently at him. "Or we can just stand and fight from where we are and do things our way. The hunter's way! Saving people, hunting things, you know the family business! Let's go and kick Chaos's ass Sam, but we will do it on our terms! No more secrets, that's my proposal! Time for those so called gods to come clean with us if they want our help. We will fight for our planet and all the humans on it and as hunters we will protect it from any kind of threats be it a ghost, crazed dog monsters, gods or we will die trying. Who's with me?!" Dean ended his morale boosting speech by raising his clenched fist above his head; he looked at all the others hopefully and they mimicked his example

First it was Sam. "I'm with you to the end as I've always been. If I don't fight now when it matters then Artemis' sacrifice would have been for nothing." Sam raised his fist determined.

"Even though my strength may fail me along the way, I will stand beside you two once again." Castiel said and raised his fist as well.

Crowley shook his head annoyed with all these pleasantries. "_Sigh…_You always have to make a speech don't you. You sound more of an idiot than you actually are, but honestly I have grown fond of your stupidity…Don't take that the wrong way though." Crowley too raised his fist boringly and quickly put it down.

"Don't worry Crowley, after all this is over, I'm still sticking to my plan for revenge on you."

"Plan?" Corwley asked curious.

"To rip off your balls, stuff them in your mouth and shove them so far down your esophagus that they will come out of your ass." Dean replied threateningly.

Crowley laughed heartily. "Ahahaha…See! That's why I made you a demon, you have such wonderful ideas; it is a waste of potential to just let you die. Too bad, you don't have the mark of Cain anymore since you turned into a servant."

Catiel sighed, frustrated with those meaningless threats between those two. "What about you Shirou?" Castiel asked.

"You guys are unbelievable…in a good way" he added when he saw their bewildered faces. "I'm amazed by how easily you managed to decide for such a crucial thing. All of what you said made it look such an obvious choice. Before I heard your speeches I was struggling internally to sort things out, but now it is clear to me. Of course, I will help, I want the world where my child will grow not to be a world filled with nutjobs!" Shirou said and raised his fist as well.

"Wow! You used _nutjobs _in proper context, it seems my teachings have finally paid off." Dean said with a smug look on his face.

"Don't go around teaching people stuff like that. The man's going to be a father in a few months. He will have responsibilities." Sam turned and a faced Shirou. "Don't let him rub his bad influences on you, or else you will regret it later." Shirou looked at Dean who approached Sam with a serious look on his face.

He grabbed Sam by the shoulder and made him face him. "Is this how you should be speaking about you brother? Bitch!"

"I can't help it when my brother is a gigantic jerk!" they fell silent for a moment and then they both started laughing with each other.

"Is that some kind of brotherly love between them?" Shirou mumbled puzzled, when he noticed that Tohsaka was standing behind them, observing them with a silly smile on her. "Tohsaka! How long have you been there?" Shirou asked.

She quickly reverted back to normal. "Enough time to say with certainty that despite the crazy turn of events, I currently really and I mean it! I really want to hurt that Chaos fellow for hurting my little sister and for wanting to take away logic and reason from this world, there are enough idiots as it is; of course I am with you all. And I would also like to announce you that our primary objective here has been officially achieved!" She said with a radiant smile on her face.

"You mean…?" Shirou asked excited.

She nodded. "Uh huh! Sakura has just woken up and is waiting for us back in the hospital!" At that moment Shirou's knees' collapsed, just like when he heard that there was no hope during Sakura's operation, but this time, not from despair, but from happiness.

* * *

_And with that my story has reached 30 chapters,_

_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_The cat is finally out of the box, the beans have been spilled!_

_So, what do you think about the new developments? _

_Leave a review with your thoughts about it and if you like the story FOLLOW it for more content!_

_May the New Year bring your way plethora of ideas that allow you to weave creative fanfics._

_I wish you everyone a happy New Year ! _

_Keep up being awesome!_


	31. The Awakening

**_At long last, a new chapter! _**

_Writing all this made me realize _**_two things:_**

_**1) **__Bridging the gaps between two different complicated universes and trying not to screw up with your own story is really difficult._

_**2) **__Having added so many extra things than I originally had planned made the transition between the stages way even more difficult than I had predicted at first.  
I've reached a point where I wasn't sure if some things happened as I remember and I had to re-read some parts from old chapters._

_In the end, I've split the transition into three parts (yeah three, unfortunately), hopefully I've explained everything quite well and you won't get bored before the finale. (figure of speech :P, I estimate at least 6-8 ten chapters after those three)._

_I'll be posting the **second part** soon._

_Leave a review with your thoughts about it. Constructive feedback is always appreciated and helps me improve myself._

_And if you liked the story be sure to **FOLLOW IT** for more content._

_**Hope you enjoy the story!**_

* * *

After the phone conversation Tohsaka had with her servant, the group split in two. Shirou, Dean, Tohsaka would drive to the hospital to visit Sakura who had just awoken from her comma and the rest would head to Shirou's home and wait for the others there; Sam and Castiel carried Rider's unconscious body back to Shirou's house and Crowley after them; meanwhile Nemesis was literally left behind without anyone asking if she needed any help to walk, she had still a serious injury in her right leg from when Scylla's great white dog-monster sank its teeth in her thigh; she didn't complain though, she knew that they were angry and wanted to blame someone for being dragged into this and being kept in the dark; so, she gritted her teeth and trudged behind them, trying keep up with them. Of course there was still Loki who could help her, but instead all he did was just walk beside her without offering a helping hand.

"Enjoy what you see, Trickster? Are you happy with what you did? Do you even realize that now they might even refuse to help us?" She asked him angrily, grunting.  
"Be warned, when we return, I'll make sure that everyone will learn about your actions." She threatened him in a voice, dripping with hate.

He looked at her for a moment and smiled maliciously. He spoke in a soft, smoothening voice. "Dear girl, let me inform you, before you embarrass yourself! All I did was follow the orders your dear mother gave to me directly, even if you go tell your buddy Athena about it, in the end it's your dear mommy that takes the final verdict, even if Nox was to betray me, she wouldn't go unscathed, I have a lot of dirt on your mother! Things that you wouldn't even begin to imagine. I bet you didn't see that coming, did you?! Oh I forgot…sorry!" He said, chuckling ironically. "Stick to your orders Nemesis and let the grownups do the dirty jobs which you can't."

Dean drove his car as fast as he could to the hospital, his back was still hurting from the burns he suffered from Scylla's booby trap; they were quite severe, but thanks to Tohsaka who treated him with healing magic and Shirou who supplied him with some more magical energy his wounds had mostly mended; he still avoided bringing in contact his back with the driver's seat while he drove, because it felt pain overrun his body.

When they arrived at the hospital, there were no other cars in the parking lot, except for a white van with a cleaning company's logo on it. Dean parked the car to the closest to the entrance, parking spot. He hadn't quite turned the engine off and Shirou had jumped out and was running to the entrance; Tohsaka followed after him along with Dean. They walked towards Sakura's room where they found Shirou conversing with Awilix outside. When they approached them, Tohsaka and her servant exchanged glances and Awilix smiled awkwardly, but Tohsaka's icy cold glare made her hang her head apologetically.

"Hey, Lancer!" She raised her head and looked at Shirou before her. "You were saying how Sakura woke up. Continue!" Shirou prompted her to speak.

Tohsaka gave her the _"we-will-discuss-about-this-later-alone"_ look and gestured her to start talking.

"_Ahem_…yes, well, I was with Sakura all the time. She was sleeping without as much as twitching an eyebrow until a few minutes before the phone call; then, her eyelids and legs started jerking periodically; before I even noticed, she was wide awake and she was staring at me. She was still in a daze and was mumbling incomprehensively, but it was clear that she was aware of her surroundings; she asked me if she was in a hospital and how she ended up here. I didn't say anything, because I thought that you would like to be the one to speak with her about her situation. I told her to lie down and I went outside to call a nurse; when you called me, a doctor was already with Sakura; he should be finished so-"

Just then the door to Sakura's room opened and three people, one doctor and two nurses came out. After a brief talk, the doctor updated them on Sakura's condition; she was perfectly healthy and her heart was functioning flawlessly; her body had adopted the transplant without an issue, he said. They had taken a blood sample from her for further testing, but the doctor assured them that there was nothing to worry about and that it was mainly for precaution. He was sincerely surprised at Sakura's quick recovery. He even told them that after she had been examined by her primary doctor in charge she would probably be able to take her discharge-letter.

After the medics left, Shirou grabbed the doorknob. He was about to go in, when he noticed that the others were standing away from the door. "Aren't you coming in? I'm sure Sakura would like to…"

"We'll have plenty of time to talk to her later. For now she only needs to see you. Go!" Dean jerked his chin to the door.

"Dean's right Shirou! We can wait a bit longer. Go ahead!" Tohsaka said with a smile. "Besides, I still have some things to talk over with my lovely servant, isn't that right Awilix?" She said while glaring down Awilix the whole time with a strict look.

Awilix gulped down "What?! Ah! Yes, go for it! We'll be waiting for you; we… still have to…_ahem_…discuss some matters here." She looked away trying to avoid eye contact with Tohsaka who hadn't taken her eyes off her.

Shirou's grip around the doorknob tightened. He exchanged glances with each one. "Thank you!" He said and entered the room, locking the door behind him.

She was lying on her bed in an upright position, gazing at the night sky through the window; she turned around when she heard the door opening; silence filled the room for a few moments as they lost themselves in each over eyes; the wind outside, howled making the window's glass cringe, the clouds moved, clearing the sky and revealing the moon which bathed the hospital room with its light. Shirou watched as the moonlight lit Sakura's face, a warm welcoming smile was painted on her. Tears began welling in Shirou's eyes.

"Hello senpai!" She greeted him in her usual gentle voice.

"Sakura…" Shirou tried to find his words, he couldn't believe that he was hearing her voice again after all what happened; it had only been a few days, but for him it seemed like centuries; the anxiety, the fear that he might not speak to her again, all melted away with her greeting to him. He wept his eyes with his sleeve and approached her bed, it was then when he noticed that her eyes were teary.

"What happened to me?" She asked, while trying her best to hold back her sobbing, but with little success.

"Shhh…it's okay! I'm here for you now. Everything is okay!" Shirou hugged and comforted her, repeating the last sentence.

Sakura forcefully pulled herself away from him; she wasn't trying to hold her tears back now. "I-I can't!" She said in a teary voice  
"I don't know for how long I was asleep, but I remember that memory as it was yesterday-I kept dreaming about it and I-it drives me crazy, all these thing that pop into my mind…They-they can't have really happened. Just thinking about them makes my whole body tremble in fear. It's the same fear I felt back when grandpa experimented on me, but worse. I feel like…that if I don't get talk to someone about it soon, it will hunt me for the rest of my life, just like the worms. You don't have to say anything, just listen. Please! Will you hear me out? " She asked with pleading eyes, sobbing.

Shirou's heart broke apart; he knew that Sakura still, even after so many years, was trying to get over the psychological trauma her  
step-grandfather's actions had created; when his worms had violated her body when she was just a kid and now she had one more psychological trauma to deal with. He was terrified that Sakura's mind wouldn't be able to take it this time, so he did as she asked him, even though he was against the idea of her reliving those memories, he was more afraid of the idea of Sakura's mind breaking.

He grabbed both her hands and brought them together, looking her straight in her dark blue eyes. "I'm listening! I will hear you out as many times as you want, whenever you want. I will always be here for you Sakura!" He said without twitching an eyebrow.

His words calmed her down a bit, but she was still shaking, Shirou could feel it in her hands. "I was just cleaning nee-san's room and then a little girl came up from behind, she had somehow entered the house without activating the detection field. She had an innocent, childish look on her face and asked me if I minded to become her host…I was confused…. I didn't understand what she meant. And then when I tried to lead her out...  
s-she transformed…she turned into a monster and attacked me. I tried to defend myself, but she was too powerful…" Sakura fell silent.

Shirou noticed her straining. "You don't have to force yourself…."

"No! " She objected strongly. "If I don't talk about it now it will only get worse, like grandpa's case." Shirou nodded reluctantly; he felt that her shaking had lessened and she wasn't crying anymore, but his gut was still telling him it was a bad idea to let her continue; his momentary hesitation though, gave an opening to Sakura who resumed talking about the incident.

"After she knocked me down, three of her dogs restrained me and held me still, while the fourth one started chewing on my body parts. First, it was my arms and hands, then my legs, but she wasn't satisfied with that. It was like she was looking for something. Then, she ordered her dogs to chew on my chest and it did…I remember the dog eating me alive, eating through my chest-" She suddenly stopped and brought her hands on her chest which was wrapped up in several white bandages.  
"My breasts, they are gone…they are really gone." She curled up on the bed and tears rolled down her cheeks; Shirou was watching her suffer miserably, helpless to do anything for her; he knew that no matter what he said now it would only worsen the situation, so he kept silent.  
A few moments passed before Sakura came in terms with reality; she tried to calm herself with short breaths, but with little success; finally, after a couple of minutes, she was calm enough to talk.  
"I couldn't even fall unconscious from the blood loss, she was keeping me awake with magic; then, when her dog was done I thought the worst was over, but I was mistaken! I was gravely mistaken." Sakura gulped down, she brought her hand to her mouth trying not to vomit.  
"She-she inserted her hand directly inside my body and grasped my h-heart!" She said in a shaky voice.  
"I could feel her flesh touching my heart….I thought she was going to crush it, but she didn't! Instead, it felt like when the worms had entered my body when I was a child, but much worse! Whatever she inserted inside me was way more sinister and held much more malice than grandpa's worms.  
I couldn't breathe! I felt my heart skip a beat, as whatever was inside, it was messing things up; that thing started moving inside my body; its movements were so violent that I felt like my heart was going to burst! I felt like death was drawing near….I was cold, not able to move a limb, my breath ragged and short, my body was screaming for oxygen, but I was unable to call for help." I watched lying helpless on the ground as, she opened up a portal and fled, but before that she looked at me with a serious look on her face and said me something I will never forget!

_"__I'm sorry if I hurt you, but it was necessary. I may be a monster, but no matter how much I flaunt it, if I didn't have those orders , there was no way under normal circumstances to bring myself to hurt someone who lived a similar life as me…Don't be surprised! That parasite I've planted inside you, except for feeding me with your magical energy, has already shared with me all your memories. I know what horrible childhood you had, what cursed power you obtained and that still lingers within you, what ordeals you had to endure, how you almost destroyed yourself and how in the end you found salvation, in the hands of a man you met who later became your lover. I pity him, because he will most probably lose the love of his life. You won't die from your wounds now, but the chances of survival are slim, right now the only thing that keeps your heart pumping is my magic, if I leave this realm or suddenly die, while I'm here, your life will come to its end, unless someone fixes or replaces your heart that is! I know you mortal have made great progresses in medicine, but still a heart transplant is no small feat… I must leave. Sleep now!"_

"Then , the last thing I remember before passing out was the movement of that thing inside me ; I was so cold, not able to move a limb, I felt suffocated, my body was screaming for oxygen, I was so close to death that for a moment there I thought that maybe all these were a product of my imaginations. Now, that' I've woken up I realize that it is reality…"

Shirou unable to take it anymore interjected. "Shh…that's enough for now. If you strain yourself more than that it will be bad for you. Just remember that if you ever need a person to share your burden with, me, Tohsaka and Rider will always be there for you."

She wept her tears. "It's just that all this time, I was reliving those last moments again and again and again. I had nowhere to turn for help, no one to talk with, I was just suffering inside this nightmare all alone! Talking to you really helped. Thank you for listening to me." She smiled faintly at him.

"Don't worry, you can relax now…come here!" he said as he hugged her, bringing her closer to him and leaning his head towards her side; she didn't push him away this time; Instead, she gently leaned her head on his and wrapped both her hands around his waist.  
"We will explain you everything in due time. For now, let's forget about everything for tonight." Silence fell in the room; time passed by and they stayed like that; it wasn't until early dawn that Shirou woke up and realized that they had fallen asleep at each other's embrace.

"Well, I guess I should go get a coffee or something and let you two sort things out." Dean said hesitantly to Tohsaka once Shirou had closed the door to Sakura's room behind him.

"No Wait!" Tohsaka said in a sharp tone. "You should be here, you were also a victim of their plot. You should stay." She said adamantly.

Dean shrugged his shoulders "Fine by me… I have something to ask her anyway."

"Very well then! Let's start from the basics. Is _Awilix _your true name?" She nodded slightly, without lifting her head.  
"I see…next question, what were you really intending to do with us if we didn't cooperate?"

She remained silent for a while, before started speaking, her voice was that of an embarrassed little kid. "They would probably order your execution or they would have kept you barely alive, so that they would be able to channel your magical energy to them; if us, the gods who were sent here to find capable masters, deemed you unfit for our purpose, we were tasked to deal with you however we saw fit, putting our secret in top priority."

"So, it was true what Crowley said about absorbing the masters' energy." Dean remarked.

"And how exactly were you planning on dealing with me?" Tohsaka asked annoyed.

Awilix fell silent again, her head hanging, then she opened her mouth, but only an incomprehensible sound came out. She suddenly raised her head and looked Tohsaka straight in the eyes "I was planning on faking my death. That death curse that ghost girl threw at me was powerful indeed! And it would have killed instantaneously a normal human or even a normal servant, but it wasn't nearly as powerful as to kill a god and one such as me who is protected by the moon's magic. I simply faked my weakness and illness in order to see if you were capable to deal with the situation."

"All that was an act?! What about when you lost your arm in the fight with Berserker?" Tohsaka said surprised with wide eyes.

"No, that was real. I was careless and I paid for it. It was not fatal, since I can regenerate my limbs with enough magical energy and you provided me with more than enough! And for that I'm really thankful! As for the other matter, I'm sorry for causing you trouble, but it was necessary. When I saw your determination back then I knew you were exactly what we needed."

"What you needed?" Tohsaka asked.

"Bringing powerful magi with us wouldn't be enough, because Chaos's power is simply overwhelming. Raw strength isn't what we need; you, mortals are supposed to support us not fight the battle for us. We need intelligent, analytical minds, who care about their comrades and can take quick decisions in the heat of the battle."

"Ignoring the first two? How is Crowley someone who gives a damn about others?" Dean asked surprised by her remark.

"That's now for me to say, but Loki who was tasked with this, said he was ok."

"And you trust the god of trickery?" Tohsaka asked.

"Him? Never? But I believe that his motives are true. He always wanted to bring that Ragnarok of his and his plan was ruined by Chaos and not only that, his son who was supposed to be the harbinger of Ragnarok joined Chaos's side, so yes, while I don't trust him, I trust his judgement. He wishes for Chaos's defeat as much as the rest of us."

"That demon did mention something about Loki and his family issues to be honest." Tohsaka added.

"I have a question for you." Dean said serious. "What exactly are you planning on doing with me? You wanted to kill me as far as I know."

She fell silent again; she was hesitant to speak her mind. "As far as I know, Hecate the Greek goddess of sorcery and Isis the Egyptian goddess of magecraft have been on that subject since you have been summoned as a servant in an effort to fix this peacefully."

"Peacefully?! Then, why the hell did you try to kill me?! Is this how you people understand peace?" Dean shouted angry

"You have to understand our situation too. We have a war to fight, we couldn't possibly risk our entire strategy because of a single human soul; you had to be eliminated! At least, that's what some of us believed. It was a decision that split us apart. In the end, it came down between our leader and our supreme commander."

"And those two are….?" Tohsaka asked.

"Our commander is Athena the Greek goddess of wisdom and war; and our leader, one of the most powerful entities among us, whose power is only surpassed by that of Chaos and Order themselves, who also happens to be the wife of Erebus and the mother of Nemesis…Nox or Nyx the goddess of night and darkness!"

"Nemesis has a mother?!" Dean uttered surprised.

"Of course she does! Not all divine beings were born from parthenogenesis; only a few chosen ones were brought to life that way and that is why their power is closer to Chaos than ours."

"You mean you have a family too?" Tohsaka asked.

"My case is slightly more complicated. I exist thanks to the reincarnation of another divine being, but my power is drastically lower, because I only carry part of the soul of the original; that's all I can say."

"To the point then! How Athena and Nox did solved my…killing-me issue?" Dean asked.

"Nox was supportive of the idea and Athena against it, but due to the hierarchy, we were forced to agree with Nox; Still, Athena was convinced that there had to be a way to solve this peacefully; for some reason she believed a lot in you and the deeds you have accomplished. So, she convinced both Isis and Hecate to look for an alternative solution."

"But why?! I mean it was pure luck that I survived the ambush. Why did she even think that I had a chance at all? It just doesn't make any sense." Dean said pensively.

"Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she had planned all this beforehand; she's a sly fox that one! But unless you ask her yourself, we may never know." Awilix said with a faint smile on her face.

"So, do you know if they had found an alternative solution?" Dean asked.

She smiled impishly "That's why I'm here! My orders were that once I had found a worthy master, I was to help you revert back to your old self with or without your consent; I'm a bit relieved it didn't come to that, because if you refused I had orders from both Athena and Nox to kill you!" Dean gulped down and instinctively took a step back from her.

Awiix's eyes widened as soon as she realized the morbidness of what she had just said. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have said that. It sounded a bit weird…_he-he_…anyway, I have no intention of hurting you…Here!" She passed him a small vial with a bright blue liquid inside.

"And, what's that?" Dean asked, staring at the small bubbles which were popping up inside the vial.

"A soul purifier, it is supposed to use up all the magical energy your servant status provides you with and turn it into a corporeal mortal body; Hecate and Isis said that this will supposedly free you from your servant status too, since the fake Holy grail we created won't sense any magical energy in you, therefore it will free up the servant spot for someone else."

"Supposedly…?" Dean repeated questionably.

"As you may have already heard even we don't know what caused this, so yes there is a possibility that even after you are left without any magical energy that the Grail won't release the spot…let's hope it doesn't come to that!"

"So, you will still try to kill me…again?" Dean replied angrily. Awilix remained silent. "Answer me!" he barked at her in a loud voice.

She jumped back in surprise. "I-I…was supposed to yes, but seeing how things turned out. It will be better if I let them decide that matter for themselves."

Dean sighed annoyed. "Crap…alright, let's give it a try then." He said as he popped the cork from the vial.

"No wait!"Awilix shouted, holding his hand from putting the vial in his mouth.

"What?!"

"You have to add a catalyst to enhance the effect." Awilix explained.

"Catalyst?" Dean tilted his head slightly.

Awilix nodded "Yes, something in the mortal world that you have a strong emotional connection with!"

"Like my car?" Dean asked.

Awilix blinked surprised "I was thinking of your brother, actually…"

"Oh!" He exclaimed "Wait! How can Sam help?"

"Add a few drops of his blood or some hair into the vial before you drink it."

He looked at her disgusted. "Seriously now! What do you think I am? A freaking vampire?" He took a deep breaths and exhaled.  
"Okay, I'm calm now. Well, if that is what it takes to free me, then so be it. I wonder how Sam will react when I tell him though…" Dean mumbled, as he put the vial in this chest pocket.

"I have a question!" Tohsaka said impatiently.

"You look rather enthusiastic master, what is it?!" Awilix asked.

"You mentioned Hecate and Isis as goddesses of sorcery and magecraft respectively. Isn't sorcery superior to magecraft. Sorcery is supposed to be the True Magic that can only be attained by reaching the Root."

"To be honest, I don't know any of this complicated stuff, but don't let Isis hear you say that. The only thing I know and is common knowledge among us gods, is that you mortals have those two quite mixed up when they were originally two different things entirely. By the way, when we go meet the others, don't let Isis hear you saying anything like that; she gets really mad over her work. If you still want more information, you can sk Nu Wa, she practices them both and she's really fond of talking with mortals. But let me warn you beforehand, she tends to be a little overenthusiastic sometimes; and that comes from a person who has been told that she moves like a jaguar…" She said smiling nostalgically.

"Hmm… I'm not really sure what that means, but I'll be careful." Tohsaka replied weirded out by Awilix's reply. "By the by, you said something about meeting with the others. Three things?" She raised three fingers "Who? Where? And How?"

"The rest of the Order's warriors of course and our armies; we were intending on taking you to our headquarters to wait there until we were ready for the last decisive battle. As for how; _ehm_...ever heard of travelling portals. They resemble the ones we travelled through from Berserker's castle. I was actually surprised that you had discovered such magic when you explained me what those stones were for."

"Hmph…so when are we leaving?" Tohsaka asked, annoyed at Awilix's last remark.

"Originally, we planned on taking you there as soon as we had deemed you worthy one by one. But considering how things turned out, I suppose we will all go together to meet up with the others as soon as possible."

"What? Sakura just woke up. There is no way we're leaving before she completely recovers." Tohsaka objected strongly.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"I said no!" Tohsaka cut her in a serious voice. "We agreed to help you, but we will do it on our terms, if you don't like it, go cry to momma Order, okay?"

"Please master!" Awilix said in a pleading voice. "Don't force us to take that decision! The sight…of watching someone hanging there like a lifeless doll, having his mana sucked away is…appalling! I've seen it before and I certainly don't want that to be the case for you and your friends. Please, we don't want that to happen, if we work together rather than force you to work for us, we will be stronger, we will-"

"Shut up!" Tohsaka barked at her. "Oh I'm sorry, did I break your concentration? I just wanted you to know that, if you want to suck me dry, then by all means do it." Tohsaka answered in the most arrogant tone ever, drawing Dean's attention.

"W-what do you mean with that?" Awilix asked stuttering.

"I said just try and suck our magical energy! I dare you! I double dare you! Say that you are going to suck my magical energy, one more time!" Tohsaka kept at it, at an aggressive tone.

"Hey, hey Rin…what's gotten into you? I know I tend to challenge my luck a lot, but this…this is kinda too much even for me know. I'd rather die than live the rest of my life as a power generator."

"Don't worry Dean! You won't have to!" Tohsaka replied reassuringly. Dean's eyes widened at her statement.  
"Think about it Dean, if sucking our energy was all what it took to beat Chaos, they would have already done so from the start, but they chose a rather complicated way to deal with it. They used this sneaky trick to involve us, so we can easily assume they have no moral barriers to begin with; If they wanted to suck us dry ,they would have done so already." She put on a smug smile when she saw Awilix's flustered reaction.

Dean noticed it too. "Wait a minute! You meant they have other motives which they didn't tell us before?!"

Tohsaka looked at him surprised. "Of course they have! Look at her!" She pointed at Awilix. "Did you notice her slip of tongue while she was explaining us what they were intending to with us?  
She said that they don't want extra power, because no matter how much firepower they manage to gather, Chaos would still overwhelm them. They want something else which they can't obtain via brute force. It is crystal clear, that all this was a lie. I've been thinking it for a while now and I decided to try this psychological trick I've learnt on her. Where you start as passive aggressive, lure them in to a false sense of security and then bam! You hit them hard and they spill the beans. They use that technique a lot in Hollywood movies, in interrogation scenes." She said smiling proudly.

"Tsk…"Awilix bit he lip. "But why me?"

"Out of the three of them you were the easiest target, I don't think that neither Loki nor Nemesis would ever react like you did and give away the secret or mess their explanation." Tohsaka explained.

"Aww…you're evil master! Now the others will get mad at me..." She said in a childish voice. "But, I'm rather happy you saw through me, it just further proves my point about why I chose you. Just so you know, Nemesis and I were against that from the start, but we had to comply with our orders. But unlike Nemesis who is always cool, I can't hide my true colors easily."

"_Damn… Shirou was right! Rin can be scary! Thankfully she is on our side._"

"So, master! What's it going to be now? You uncovered our secret; you literally hold the fate of the universe on your hands! Will you help us? Or will you abandon us? " Awilix asked her with a slightly worried expression on her face.

"I believe we already made ourselves clear on that matter! We will help you, but on our terms and only when you come completely clean with us." Tohsaka replied in a serious voice.

"And what does that involve?" Awilix asked.

"Firstly, we wait for Sakura to recuperate! Secondly, I want to know why you lied to us! What is the true reason you want us? If not for our magical energy, so what is it? Until those two things are resolved, personally I won't move a finger to help you, you can try your luck with the others, but I doubt they will listen to you, after I talk to them!" Tohsaka announcer her intentions without hesitation, glaring at her coldly.

"I-I see…unfortunately me and the others aren't authorized to share any of that information yet. We will have to go meet with the rest and inform them about your decision. In the meantime, your sister should have plenty of time to recover her health. The trip itself won't take long, since we will be using portals, but I don't know for how long we will stay there, my rough estimate is about two to three human days. That should be plenty of time for your sister to recover, considering her magical energy."

"You will be leaving now then?" Tohsaka asked.

"Yes, I'll go meet up with the others and we'll depart. By the way, where are they?"

"They are gathered at Shirou's house along with Rider, Cas, Sam and Crowley." Dean replied.

"I don't know where that is, but Suku will probably be able to sniff them out…I'm off then! Suku, get up! We're leaving." Awilix looked to her right and gave a command to her invisible pet jaguar, while simultaneously snapping her fingers.

Suddenly, her punk, full leather outfit started disintegrating Firstly, her black hair which she had loose up until now, magically tied themselves into a ponytail; then, her clothing started changing; Her leather jacket transformed into a green bra made out of animal hide, adorned with small red and yellow feathers at the side, revealing that way her ample bosom that the several layer of leather were covering up until now; her tight jeans turned to a leather mini-skirt decorated with several bleached animal fangs; her boots vanished into nothingness, leaving her barefoot. Lastly, her tattoos started popping up one by one on her skin; first the two beige shoulderpad shaped tattoos on her shoulders, then the two pale gray tattoos which resembled two full-moons appeared on her upper arms and lastly the yellow sun tattoo on her bellybutton. Finally, dark purple make up appeared around her eyes.

"Whoa! Watch it! People may be watching." Tohsaka scolded her.

"Don't worry, there are no other people around, except for us—Come on Suku, move it! We have a big trip to make." She complained to her partner who was still in his ethereal form.

"How are you going to get past the main entrance? There should still be people there?" Tohsaka asked curious.

"As I've said, don't worry! Suku can accelerate up to twenty mach speed for a few seconds; he hasn't got total control of his body at that speed, that's why he doesn't use that in battle, but it's useful when we are fleeing or pursuing something. Anyway, if there are people, their eyes won't even be able to keep up with us and once we're out we'll just take the high way-Oh no! Now, you've done it! Move it you lazy bum!" She said sharply; annoyed, she materialized her spear and thrust it against the air or so it seemed at first.

A short high pitched cry of pain echoed throughout the corridor and then out of thin air Suku appeared with a pained look on his face. He glared down Awilix with his bright yellow feline eyes.

"Don't give me that look Suku!" Awilix warned him in an angry voice; the jaguar snorted as he bent its knees for her to get on it.

With a graceful jump, she hopped on Suku. "See ya! Oh ! I almost forgot, if the potion works and you get free, then your master will have to perform the ritual to get another servant."

"What? Another servant! And you tell us now?" Dean said surprised.

"Well yes! I thought you had figured it out by now! The whole point of freeing you is for your master to summon one of us and create a link with him. If he doesn't well…he can't help us any other way, we'll have to find someone else."

"Fine, any other _minor _detail, you want to mention?" Dean asked slightly sarcastically.

"Hmm…Nope!" She said with a wide smile. "Bye-bye for now!" She waved and blinked her eye playfully at them. "Let's go Suku!" She said and with that she disappeared from their view.

"There she goes….So, want to go grab a bite? Or should we go straight home to meet up with the others?" Dean asked her as he stretched his back.

"Huh? Where to?" Tohsaka replied surprised at his sudden invitation. "If we eat so late, we're going to get a stomachache and also-"

"Oh! Come on! Your sister just woke up from coma! Also, you just home-schooled an actual god, I think that is reason enough. Oh! I know, let's get drinks and food and have a party at Shirou's." Dean said enthusiastically.

"Shouldn't we wait for Sakura to get out of the hospital and then hold a party for her?" Tohsaka said with a dubious expression on her face.

"We'll hold another feast then and another one even bigger once we kick Chaos' ass to oblivion! Now, let's get going! We must find one convenience stores which is still open." He said happily and started moving toward s the floor's exit; suddenly he stopped and turned around; his eyes fixed on Tohsaka.  
"One small thing though! I've spent all the money Shirou gave me! You will have to pay for it!" He smiled awkwardly at her.

Her eyebrow twitched when she heard the word _pay, _but she withstood the urge to complain. "_Sigh…._Alright! I suppose a few drinks are okay. It was a big victory for us today, no matter how you see it. I hope I won't end up wasted like that one time in London when I drank a little too much after celebrating the victory of a local football team with some fans."

"I didn't have you for a fan!" Dean said curious.

"I wasn't at first, I didn't even know the basic of the basics, but after spending so much time in England the homeland of football. I ended up making some new friends who got me hooked up."

"I bet you have some good stories to share. I want to hear them over the drinks." Dean said happily.

Tohsaka chuckled. "Sure, but you will have to share some of your hunting stories too. I bet life on the road is quite adventurous."

"It's a deal then!" He said smiling. "By the way, what movies were you referring to when you said that part about interrogations before?"

"Oh you know, just movies which you watch in a rainy evening after a long day at work which in London were quite a lot."

* * *

_That's it for the first part!_

**_Did you enjoy the development?_**


	32. The Summoning

_Second part is up,_

_That one was quick, because it was mainly what I had originally planned to write and thus it only needed a few changes, the next and last part of the transitional stage might take a litle bit longer, because I'm not yet quite finished with it. _

_If you are not bored afterwards, leave a __**REVIEW**__ with your thoughts on the chapter and the story so far. I'm looking forward for __**more feedback**__!_

_And if you like the story, __**FOLLOW**__ it for more content._

_**Happy reading!**_

* * *

**Three days after Sakura's awakening, Emiya Residence.**

"Did it work? " Dean asked.

"Hey, look! The commands seals are gone!" Shirou said enthusiastically, showing off his hand.

"I don't feel that much different though….Sam! Punch me!" Dean said to his brother. Castiel sighed.

"What? Why?" Sam asked surprised.

"I just want to make sure. If I'm human then your punch should hurt me. I just want to feel it, hit me as hard as you can." Dean pointed his stomach at his brother.

"Ok, if you say so._ Thump_" Sam punched his brother hard enough that Shirou for a moment thought that he knocked him unconscious.

A sharp grunt of pain escaped Dean's lips as Sam's punch connected with him. "_Cough, cough…_ I know I told you to, but you didn't have to punch that hard. I think, I'll miss that resilience I had as servant."

"Hah wimp…!" Sam replied with a smirk.

"Bitch!"

"Jerk!"

Crowley sighed annoyed. "Yeah, yeah, now that you two eejits are done. Can we move on? Unless, you want me to punch you too?" Crowley interrupted them annoyed.

"Shut up Crowley! I may be a human again, but I can still take on demons like you for breakfast!" Dean challenged Crowley with an icy glare.

"That's enough!" Castiel shouted and silence fell as both sides backed off "Thank you. Now Shirou, you should begin with the summoning ritual."

"Wait!" Sakura cut in. Everyone's eyes fixed on her; her cheeks reddened a little. "I-I won't let Shirou fight alone, I will fight too as well. I want to help you all." Tohsaka's and Shirou went silent for a moment, before realizing the seriousness of what Sakura said.

"What? What are you babbling about Sakura? Are you out of your mind? You just got out of hospital! There's no way that is happening." Tohsaka harshly scolded her sister.

"She's right. There is no way we're letting you do that Sakura. The doctors said to avoid stress and hard labor. You're in no position to fight. " Shirou said worried.

"The doctor said that because they don't know what we are! Nee-san's healing circle helped a lot those two days with my recovery and personally I feel perfectly fine, no morning sickness, because of the pregnancy no dizziness, nothing. I don't need any more rest." Sakura objected.

"Do you know how selfish you sound Sakura? It's only about you now. You are pregnant! Remember?" Tohsaka said in a stern voice.

"I know, b-but still-"Sakura stuttered and Shirou interrupted her, before she could form a sentence.

He approached Sakura and spoke to her in a gentle voice. "You're carrying our child Sakura, if you join us, then you put the not only yours, but the baby's life in danger as well. And if something was to happen to you, then the baby would also…I can't…I won't let you do that Sakura, this is a battle unlike any precedent, the fate of the world…the whole universe will be decided at this battle. It's too dangerous! I'll fight, I'll protect you, both you and the baby. If something were to happen to you again, I don't know if I could live with it" Shirou sounded absolute, but Sakura wasn't going to let this slide.

Sakura raised her hand and slapped him on the cheek. Everyone's eyes went wide from her bold move. "Enough! I won't let you speak like that! You both say I'm selfish, because I want to fight beside you, but what about yourselves?  
Isn't it selfish to demand for me to stay back, while you are out there risking your lives to save the world? What about my feelings? I love you very much, all of you, you, nee-san,Rider… I care about you and I don't want you to risk your lives for me while I do nothing for myself. Not anymore! This time, I will join you and fight by your side. I may not be as talented magus as nee-san or as brave as you Shirou or half as strong as Rider, but I'm not helpless, I can defend myself and I will!"  
She paused and took a small breath.  
"Besides, this time I'm fighting for one more person." She looked down as she placed her hand on her belly.  
"I want a peaceful world for my…our child to live into. Even if I stay back as you tell me, If you lose that battle it wouldn't matter! As the world and everything on it will change as you know it and none of you will be here, I will be left alone."

"Sakura, I-I'm sorry-"Before he could say anything else Sakura approached him quickly and put her index finger on his mouth, shushing him.

"Shh…I know! You will always be my senpai who looks after me, but not this time! This time, I will stand and fight beside you as your partner." She hugged him and kissed him in the lips.

Tohsaka sighed half-frustrated half-proud with her sister's attitude "This girl…." She chuckled slightly at the sight of them kissing.

The one to interrupt the romantic scene was Crowley "Would you two lovebirds like us to leave the room? We can do this another time if now doesn't suit you. How about tomorrow? It's not like the whole damn universe will crumble if we delay a day or two, right?" He said sarcastically.

Hearing his words, Sakura backed away quickly from Shirou, her cheeks were now bright red as ripe tomatoes. After the moment of excitement had passed, Sakura was realizing how embarrassing was what she had just said and what she did afterwards in front of all these people.  
"I-I'm sorry demon-san. You're right we don't have time to waste." Sakura bowed apologetically; oblivious to the fact that this was the demon who possessed her sister and almost managed to kill Shirou and Dean, no one had mentioned it her after all, they had all decided to leave this behind for the sake of their cooperation.

"You don't have to apologize to that bastard Sakura." Dean interjected.

"It might come as a surprise to you and Moose, but some people have actual manners. Not everyone are eager to rip someone's throat as soon as they meet him." Crowley then turned his attention to Sakura. "Hello there! I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. Name's Crowley, king of Hell, most people call me King, but you can just call me Crowley." He said with a smirk on his face, while offering her a handshake; Sakura nodded hesitantly as she shook hands with him.

Tohsaka cleared her throat. "_Ahem…_ enough with that let's get to work. Let's all move to your warehouse Emiya-kun, if I'm correct there should still be a magical circle from the past war." Shirou nodded.

The three of them entered the courtyard's shed and closed the door behind them. "Now, Shirou! Sakura! You both know the incantation add a drop of your blood into the circle and start the summoning. And let's hope, that things will work out. Since, Dean is no longer servant, there should be two servant spots free."

"Two? Aren't there supposed to be seven servant spots in each Holy Grail war?" Sakura asked.

"Ah right! I forgot to mention that when I was explaining you the situation. Apparently, since this is a fake war, the spots are limited and on top of that Chaos managed to steal two spots from Order, so Order's side has only five spots, thus there can only five pairs of master-servant at once; though, since this is not a real Holy Grail war, I wonder if the term _servant _is okay? And why are we even doing that now since this is a fake war? Is there even a point to summon them like that? I have to ask the one who created this Holy Grail war when we meet them, yes!  
Hmm….I should make a list of questions…" Tohsaka started rambling, losing herself in her thoughts.

"Right…Let's do this together Sakura." Shirou said, ignoring Tohsaka babbling; Sakura nodded at him. They made a small cut on their thumb finger and let some of their blood drop inside the circle, they grabbed each other hand and started chanting the spell.

"_By the ancient gods and all divines, I summon thou,_

_My blood, is your blood,_

_My body, is your body_

_My wish, is your command,_

_Thou shall not defy me and thou shall not disobey me and_

_Thy shall give you power to fight and_

_Together we shall vanquish our foes._

_By the power of The Holy Grail,_

_I summon thou forth,_

_Come now thy Servant._"

The magical circle glowed a yellowish color, light gray and bright yellow sparks began descending from the ceiling, slowly forming two figures as they stacked up. The light gray sparks a male figure and the yellows a female one. The figures shone brightly one last time before the light seceded.

The first one was a male but not what as well what you call a normal human. His skin was greenish with a touch of gray, as if his flesh was rotten or dead, yet his muscles were really toned. He wore a black, metal breastplate atop of a sleeveless, white linen tunic which was ending just above his knees; a red gem was embedded in the middle of the armor. Even though he wore neither shoes nor boots, his legs and arms were fully covered with several white bandages. He wore simple leather gauntlets atop of the bandages made from animal's hide. On his head, he wore a distinguishing crown; golden with two winged-shaped protrusions at the sides which were adorned with two red gemstones each. But what was even more amazing than his crown, it was his magnanimous goatee; it was about as long as two human palms; its thickness was suggesting that the length of his facial hair was much longer, but he seemed to prefer it styled this way.

The yellow figure was unique as well in her own way. She had a triangular face, slightly tanned skin and a fair complexion. Dark hazel eyes, well -trimmed eyebrows and jet black straight hair, falling perfectly on her shoulders. She was wearing a short, v-shaped, sleeveless, white blouse which covered only her upper chest, revealing that way her athletic belly; a white skirt with a diagonal cut and an ash gray sash tied around her waist. Her ears were decorated with two sun-shaped golden earrings; she also wore a thick necklace made solely out of gold, it was engraved with tiny bird designs and was adorned with even tinier blue gems which were used to indicate the eyes of the birds; around her wrists there were two silver bracelets, one per hand, each bracelet had whirly carvings on it which were glowing red. Also, just like the other one, she too was wearing something on her head, not a crown, but a shiny platinum tiara adorned with red and yellow feathers. But despite all her impressive jewelry; she had another even more impressive feature; her most peculiar characteristic were the gigantic plump feathers on her arms; at first it looked as if they were part of her clothes, but in fact they were growing out from her arms; they were as long as an average human leg, colored with three colors, red at the base, yellow in the middle and white at the edges.

The female servant looked back and forth between Shirou and Sakura then she whispered something at the man beside her; he shrugged his shoulders; seeing his reaction she frowned her eyebrows displeased, she addressed to him again, but this time she spoke out loud. Her voice was soft and her way of speaking was denoting familiarity with the other person.  
"Osiris, honey, I told you not to go ourselves; it would be much easier to send that woman with her rabbit and that archer husband of hers. These kids who summoned us haven't the slightest clue about magic. How are we supposed to fight with them as masters?"

The male servant spoke up, his voice was deep and calm "Come on now Isis! Don't be grumpy! Houyi had yet to return from the battlefield and you really want to entrust the fate of the world to someone who fights with a rabbit at her side?"

She shook her head condescendingly "Well, I suppose you're right, how could I ever entrust Chang'e with my duties. Sure is moon deity, but even Aphrodite is more knowledgeable than her in terms of war." The male servant nodded hesitantly not wanting to stir her.

The female servant turned her attention back to the crowd. "Greetings mortals, my name is Isis, Egyptian goddess of magic and family."

"And I'm Osiris, Egyptian god of the afterlife and king of the Egyptian underworld. We were expecting your call, but we didn't know that you were going to summon two of us. Did something occur?" He asked them.

Sakura stepped forth shyly "It was my decision! I wanted to help nee-san, Shirou and the others with their struggle. They told me what's going to happen if we don't take action, that's why I pressed them to let me perform the summoning ritual."

"I see…" Osiris, looked at her with a stern face. "You intentions are pure, but how about your magical prowess? As you have been informed our agents' primary job was to see if the people who summoned them were fit to be their masters, they have all returned with good results. The others have also assured us that this young man-" He pointed as Shirou. "-is also capable of fighting alongside us, he has the potential of a true warrior, but what about you? Can you hold your own in a battle?"

"I-I have practiced magecraft, nee-san taught-me how to better control my magical energy and project it, in order to defend myself." Sakura said hesitantly.

Osiris seemed dissatisfied with her answer "Hmm…so you don't know any particular spells or have any special techniques?" he asked her with a serious face.

"N-no! That's not…" Sakura fell silent, momentarily and looked at Tohsaka anxiously, then her eyes fell on Shirou, who noticed the look on her face, but before he could say anything, Sakura started speaking.  
"I mainly know defensive magic, but I do have in fact one technique!" Shirou's eyes opened up in surprise from hearing that, while Tohsaka shook her head and sighed. "Nee-san helped me with, I've been practicing it for a long time and I have made progress, though I'm not sure, how helpful it will be in real battle; if not I can still supply you with magical energy if you need and protect you with spells"

"More magical energy to sustain ourselves is always appreciated, but it's not enough!" Isis cut in. "You said you know protection spells, right? Also, if your protections spells were half decent, you wouldn't have the ended the way you did when Scylla attacked you- "Sakura shivered upon hearing that name. "I'm sorry girl, but we can't risk it. You're welcome to come with us if you want, but you won't be participating in the battle. Maybe we can find something else to do, like tend the wound-"

"Wait!"Tohsaka interrupted her. "Firstly!" She raised one finger "How can you blame her for what happened to her? Your _warrior _Nemesis could hardly take on Caster's familiar and she is a goddess like you. It was our ally, Rider that killed Caster and only after she had been weakened from our combined attacks! How can you expect a single human to defend against that monster! And secondly!" She raised a second finger "How can you call yourself a goddess of magic, if you can't sense Sakura's true magical energy? " Tohsaka exhaled frustrated, glaring at Isis angrily.

"Watch your mouth little girl!" Isis warned her, with a stern look on her face. "Nemesis had a weak master who couldn't provide her with enough magical energy to sustain herself; so, she shad to use hers in order to both sustain herself and fight! And secondly, of course I can sense her magical energy. I know that she has more than any of you here or any of the people, standing outside this building; and I know, she's suppressing some of it, but even so, she's no good if she can't cast any spells and the only thing she knows is some weak protection spells and a half-baked technique that you taught her!" Isis said in mocking tone.

Tohsaka breathed in slowly and exhaled to suppress her anger. "Sakura…do it! Time to show the results of your training." Shirou's eyes widened at her last comment.

Sakura looked at her sister troubled "But nee-san…"

"Do it!" She encouraged her in a strong confident voice. "Before I've left for London, you managed to transform and maintain that form for seventeen minutes, I know you can do it…and Shirou!" She turned to face him.  
"I'm sorry for not telling you, but I've been teaching Sakura some stuff, you might not like; you can yell all you want afterwards, but right now, please don't freak out."

Sakura glanced at Shirou who was looking back and forth between the two of them for an explanation; she lowered her head to avoid his gaze. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "Don't worry, I will be fine." She said to him with a reassuring smile. She closed her eyes and crossed her hands on her chest; silence fell inside the shed.

Isis and Osiris observed with interest as the air around Sakura started shifting and the ground beneath her trembled; then, dark flames swallowed her whole and just like that from inside the darkness, there she was the Avenger from the past Holy Grail war had made his appearance. Her appearance was the same as it was back then; her hair had turned milky white and black tissue with red vertical stripes were covering her whole body. But unlike ten years ago, her face didn't look plain and expressionless; sparkling eyes, revealing her determination and a smile of confidence were the proof that the person in control of that body was indeed Sakura and not Avenger.

"W-What is going?! What is the meaning of this?!" Shirou shouted.

His shouts drew the attention of the others from outside who burst the shed's door's open only to be met with a violent gust of air in the face. "What in the bloody hell is going on here?" Crowley shouted angrily, whist covering his eyes.

Sakura looked around slowly, then her eyes fell on Shirou. "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you anything." She spoke in her usual gentle voice.

"What do you think of her? She certainly seems powerful, but is she fit for battle?" Osiris asked his wife.

Isis' eyes were wide open with surprise. "Are you kidding me? Can you not tell? She's as powerful as our son, Horus, when he was born and she's still has ways to go; with proper training she would even be able to take on even gods, alone. I don't know why I couldn't see that potential before?"

"It's probably, because of nee-san's enchanted trinket." Sakura said as she showed her a jeweled necklace.

"Really?!" Isis uttered surprised. "A tiny jewel like that can hold so much magical energy? How did you do that?" She asked Tohsaka.

Tohsaka immediately forgetting her argument with her before, started boasting, in her own way. "I'm flattered! A goddess of magic is interested in my work. Well, the necklace itself doesn't hold any magical energy, it has a charm which creates portals to other dimensions; the charm is used for storing Sakura's energy there and transferring it between the dimensions. I have modified it so that only Sakura can invoke the necklace's charm. That form requires a lot of magical energy to sustain, that's why I have advised her to draw magical energy from the reserves and not her own body or else she might lose control of it."

"So, her magical energy was in another dimension….Impressive! That's why I couldn't feel all of her power. As a fellow magus, I'm genuinely impressed. A mortal using second magic to such degree is really something! I should apologize for my previous rudeness."

"Thank you, but it is nothing compared to Zelrech's magic. It can only store a specific amount to each dimension up to a limited number of three dimensions."

Isis shook her head disapprovingly. "Don't be humble kid! Zelrech is a vampire and had all infinity to perfect his art, you on the other hand had managed to achieve those results at such an early age and you haven't reached yet the prime of your magical growth. You have a bright future in front of you!" Tohsaka couldn't hold back her smile at such earnest praise.  
"You can revert back girl; you've proven yourself, you may join us into the fight!" Isis said with a welcoming smile on her face.

"Thank you!" Sakura said happily, before dark flames swallowed her again and turning her back to normal.

As soon as she was Sakura again, Shirou grabbed her from the shoulder and made her face him "Sakura! How could you hide something like this from me? Since when can you do that?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to-" She lowered her head embarrassed. "Five years…"

"Five years?!" Shirou repeated angrily. "And you didn't even say bother to say anything about it Tohsaka? How could you let her do it?" She asked in a tone that heated up things between them even more.

Tohsaka puffed her cheeks annoyed. "You! You won't lay charge against me! This mess would never have happened if you two could actually communicate with one another.  
Don't look at me like that Sakura! Yes, you're in fault too for making me swear to my honor as a magic instructor, to keep this a secret from him, because you couldn't bring yourself to tell it yourself.  
And you! If you would stop worrying so much about her, maybe she wouldn't have felt the need not to share with you that I've been tutoring her for five years now." She sighed frustrated and looked at the people standing in front of the shed's door  
"What are you people watching? Don't you have anything better to do? Shoo!" She shouted at them; the angry tone of her voice convinced them that it was not a good idea to stay, so they dispersed.

Shirou, astounded by Tohsaka's revelation , looked at Sakura, she lifted her head and before he could say anything, she started talking " Yes, I was taking lessons from nee-san in order to improve my magical energy's flow and prove to you that you don't have to worry as much about me."

"You wanted to prove me that you're strong enough so that I would care less about you?" Shirou asked weirded out.

"_Idiot!_" Tohsaka glared down at him, without saying anything.

Sakura exclaimed frustrated. "That's what you understood?!"

"Sakura, I can't know what you mean if you don't tell me…" Shirou said agitated.

"You worry about every little thing about me! Literally everything! Be it unstable magical energy or a common cold! You constantly baby-sit me as if I'm helpless to do anything."

"Then why didn't you say anything sooner? Since you despised my care so much?" Shirou asked angry.

"You think I despise being watched after you?! How could you say that? I just wished that-" Tears began welling in her eyes.

"Whoa…why are you crying now?" Shirou asked flustered.

"I only wanted to lighten you load from having to deal with me every day and you're insulting me by saying that I don't love you!" Sobs filled the room; Tohsaka came to her side and hugged her sister, trying to comfort her.

Shirou blinked surprised. "When did I say that? I just said that-"

"Okay, that's enough you two!" Tohsaka stepped in their argument, before Shirou would say something that he would later come to regret.  
"Emiya-kun, it's time to think about what you've said and come later to apologize to Sakura about it." She sounded absolute.  
"Come on Sakura, let's go make you a hot beverage to calm you down." As she was about to exit the shed, she turned around and glanced at Shirou, rolling her eyes frustrated.

"You have a lot to learn about a woman's feelings young man!" Isis made a sharp comment and walked towards the exit.

"Wait a minute…Damn! When did I say anything insulting to her?" Shirou mumbled.

"Ah kid! I'm married to Isis for over three thousand years. We had our ups and downs, but I still love her deeply. Despite all that though, I still can't figure out a woman's mind. But I can say for sure that you seriously screwed up this one. Trust me! I speak from experience. Never try to reason with an emotional person, even if you believe that you are correct; especially if that person is a woman and be double cautious when that woman happens to be your wife. " Osiris patted him friendly in the back with his gigantic necrotic hand which gave Shirou the chills.  
"Anyway, we have work to do. You'll have to solve your marital issues some other day, let her blow off some steam first, then go talk to her. Maybe the war is a good solution after all. She would be able to vent off her anger at our enemies. Believe me, you don't want to see my wife when she gets angry, I imagine yours is like that as well."

Shirou sighed. "We're not even married yet. She was attacked by Caster the night I was about to propose her."

"Oh correct! Sorry, about reminding you about that. What does it matter though if you're married or not? You act like a newlywed couple having its first big fight that means you already have spent a lot of time together."

"Thanks…I guess…_Sigh, _come with me. I'll introduce you to the rest of the group." Shirou said, walking towards the exit wit Osiris by his side.


	33. The Decision

_At last, I'm done with the transition chapters, from now on the story will be very SMITE and mythology oriented._

_I'll try to update the story every 2-3 weeks. But I am not making any promises, since I just got hooked up to Elder Scrolls Online :D_

_If you like this story, __**FOLLOW**__ it for more content,_

_Also, if you're feeling generous, leave a __**REVIEW **__about the chapter you've read or the story overall.  
Feedback, positive or negative, is always welcome as long as it is constructive and justified. _

**_P.S_**_. Can you spot the references?_

**_Happy reading!_**

* * *

After the eventful summoning ritual, the group moved inside to living room; all except for Sakura who shut herself in the bedroom along with Rider who was comforting her. Osiris had offered to answer them any questions, before travelling to the realm of the gods. But due to everyone's talking out loud, he was unable to be heard. He tried twice to silence them, but their voices just covered his own and the chaos went on.

Seeing his fruitless efforts to enforce order, Isis took pity on him. She stood up, spread her arms and consequently her wings which glowed yellow; she took an imposing stance.  
"Silence!" She shouted loudly; her penetrating voice and intimidating posture gave the people in the room the chills. Silence immediately ensued.  
"You're welcome honey." She smiled smugly to her husband and sat again on her pillow cross legged.

"Ahem…Thanks, now that I have your attention, I'm ready to listen to your questions, just try to keep them to the bare minimum, the clock is ticking. When we later travel to our realm you can ask Athena for any further details, she's our master strategist as you know."

"Will we be fighting alongside the gods we summoned?" Castiel asked.

"That is correct! The Holy Grail war may have been a fake overall, but we made sure some of its elements worked as they would in reality. For instance, the link between master and servant would work as they would in a real Holy Grail war, but in this case, it will only empower us, normally most of the magical energy which the servant receives, is to sustain himself in the physical world; that won't be an issue since we will be fighting using our own physical bodies in the war. Copying the Holy Grail's magical infrastructure to achieve that was really hard even for us."

"Actually that sets up for a great topic about the Root." Tohsaka popped up. "Awilix told me that the first magic is not what we mortals think. She told me that magecraft and sorcery are two completely different kinds of magic. If so, what is the first magic? How can we reach the Root? You said that it was difficult for you to recreate the Holy Grail's magical infrastructure and its functions, why? Aren't you supposed to have all the knowledge required to recreate a mortal made ritual?" She bombarded him with questions.

Osiris sighed. "You sure have a lot of questions….Isis can you enlighten her? It's your specialty after all."

Tohsaka looked at Isis with anticipation, like a little kid waiting for his Christmas present, for a moment there Isis was astounded with her enthusiasm.  
"Ahem….I'll try to keep it simple and I won't repeat it, so pay attention. The First magic, goes back to the creation of the universe when Order was creating and merging different entities together to shape the universe-"

"Entities, like the one called Divinity?" Tohsaka asked.

Isis nodded. "Exactly! One of those entities was the entity of Magic, just like Divinity, Magic was split into other lesser entities and thus magic as we know it today was created; that also solves the question about how to reach the Root, you can't, not even us gods can. What you consider first magic or sorcery as you call it, is just high level magecraft nothing more, that's why the Holy Grail you fight for in your Holy Grail war is not omnipotent."

"If that's high level magecraft, what is sorcery then? Since you told us that they are different." Tohsaka asked curious.

"Magecraft and sorcery are different kinds of magic, sorcery can only be practiced by someone with an innate affinity to magic which is an extremely rare feature among gods and even rarer among mortals; Merlin was one of those mortals and as for gods, the fellow greek goddess of magic Hecate is a powerful sorcerer; as for myself, despite my studies and practice on sorcery, I am still an amateur. In order to even understand the concepts of sorcery you must forget all your knowledge about magecraft and then, you may have a slight chance of learning."

"What about my last question? Why did you have difficulty recreating the Holy Grail since it is just another spell?" Tohsaka asked.

"The greater Grail as I believe you call it is not omnipotent, because it is just high level magecraft. Nevertheless, normally we wouldn't have trouble recreating it, but this one was different, its magic had to be amplified by millions of times in order to be able to create an ideal, mana provisioning link between an actual god and a master. Your Grail summons heroic spirits who are by far inferior to an actual god, even the heroic spirits of a divine being are severely limited in comparison to the actual thing, take for example Medusa or Rider as I heard that you people are calling her; she took her real form to defeat Scylla, because her heroic spirit form was limiting her abilities."

"What?!"Shirou jumped on his seat. "What other form?" He asked.

"Who cares about that?" Dean interjectd. "Rider, the Rider, the beautiful woman in the next room with Sakura, is actually the loathsome monster Medusa from Greek mythology which turned men to stone? Whaat?!" Dean shouted surprised; besides him, everyone seemed calm.  
"Wait-wait! Why is everyone so calm? You too Sam?"

Sam nodded. "Actually, Cas and I realized her true identity when she transformed in front of us back in the temple, you were knocked unconscious back then" he said looking at Shirou.  
"She asked us to keep a secret about it, because she didn't want anyone to remember her looking like that. That' why she probably kept it a secret from you all these years." Sam said, addressing to Shirou.

"Now, that all the moronic, scholar talk is out of the way, can we move the on the matter at hand?!"Crowley said angry; he had long finished the tea, Shirou prepared for him and for quite a while now, he was enduring silently the discussion in the room.

"Ahem…he is right, we've wasted enough time with idle chit-chat and questions who don't matter. From now on, we will only answer you any questions that are directly related to our war. If you have any left that is." Osiris said in a serious voice.

"I have one!" Tohsaka raised her hand.

"Bollocks…" Crowley said, shaking his head frustrated.

"Somehow I knew that you wouldn't stop at those, so what do you want to know?" Osiris asked her.

"It's something, I've asked my servant too, but she refused to tell me. I was intending to ask your leader personally when we would arrive, but since you offered to answer us any question then indulge me. Why do you need us in the battle with Chaos? You said something before about mana provisioning link, I was sure that you didn't need our magical power to defeat Chaos, was I wrong?" Tohsaka asked curious.

Osiris breathed in and exhaled from his nose. "I should have expected that you would be asking me that question when I offered to answer any questions. True, the agents, we sent here were forbidden from revealing the real truth about your purpose; we wanted to have better control over you. That's why they were instructed to tell you that we would use you as magical energy sources if you declined to help us, but that's not entirely false. We do need extra firepower to beat Chaos' servants."

"Hah….We already beat two of his best! Let him try!" Dean said arrogantly.

Osiris shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not that even close to being true. Those two you defeated were cannon fodder, compared to his strongest warriors. Scylla wasn't even a goddess, just a divine creature, slightly enhanced from Chaos' powers. And Chaac…Chaac was just a puppet of Chaos being controlled against his will; Chaos made him insane, so that it would be easier for him to control; his insanity made him a mindless beast who could not even use his divine skills. Only a handful of gods are able to take the Chaos' servant on as they are now, but it is certain that we don't stand a chance against them without help."  
he stood there for a moment and rubbed his forehead, exhaling. "We need your magical power to match theirs. That's the first reason at least!."

"And the second reason?" Castiel asked.

"As I've said, we need your magical power to defeat Chaos' servant, but in order to defeat Chaos himself, we need you! Actual mortals, neither a god nor a demigod nor divine beings, that includes angels and demons" He said looking at Castiel and Crowley.

"What do you mean?" Tohsaka asked suspicious.

"The only thing that can defeat or at least force Chaos to surrender, is inside his base, locked in a room made from his flesh and bones and is impenetrable by any divine being. The artifact is called the _Hand of the Gods._ It is a gauntlet made out of Chaos's own flesh just like the room itself and is the only thing that can smite divine beings like us with a single touch. One punch is all it takes!" Osiris said in a serious voice, to make them understand that's he's not exaggerating.

"Then why hasn't he used it up until then? Don't tell me he is an honest warrior who hates using under-handed tactics?" Crowley said ironically.

"No, that's not it. The reason is that if he uses to turn all of us to nothingness, their spirits and power will be absorbed by Order, because they are connected with her; thus, by absorbing each single god and goddess on our side, she will grow immensely powerful and she might even be able to overpower him."

"Isn't he supposed to stand above everyone else? I remember Nemesis saying that even Order was created from Chaos. How can Order overpower him?" Sam said.

"Being the strongest, does not mean that he is also the most skillful of the two. Order has many tricks, up her sleeve, but unfortunately, Chaos sheer strength renders all that useless, but he understands though, the danger she poses if she becomes more powerful. That's why he is afraid of using the Hand of the Gods." Osiris explained.

"Who uses his own flesh to create a weapon?" Dean asked disgusted.

"Oh! You will be surprised by how many gods are doing that! Besides, he didn't do it on his own. When Order was about to create the entity you know as Divinity from which all divine beings, including us came to be; she asked and helped him to create that gauntlet, in case the creatures which would be born from it were disobedient and needed to be erased."

"What a nice way to have you on the leash. Like well trained monkeys!_" _Crowley said sarcastically, but Osiris ignored him.

"So, what do you need us mortals to do?" Sam asked.

"As I've said, divine beings cannot enter the room, but that rule doesn't apply for mortals. You can go inside and take that artifact, then Order can use it to force him to surrender. Chaos never thought that we would be using mortals, so he didn't bother creating that room with that in mind. And even now that he knows it; he won't be expecting you inside. He doesn't even know that we are aware of the existence of that artifact. Not even Order herself knew."

"Then, who told you?" Shirou asked curious.

"We have a secret informant inside Chaos' base who for some reason is passing us information. We don't know who he or she is? Why is he there? Why is he helping us? But all of his info has been a life saver until now. Thanks to him we were able to hold off Chaos's forces and the time he bought us, had helped us devise a plan and put it in motion, I'm referring of course to the Fake Holy grail war and the gathering of mortal masters."

"I can always ask for more help from the Mages' association and-" Tohsaka suggested, but was immediately rejected.

Osiris shook his head disapprovingly.  
"No! That's not going to happen. When we put that plan into motion, we feared that Chaos would understand our hidden motives and make the room impervious to mortals as well, thankfully our informant told us that he didn't think that far and he only assumed we needed you for the extra magical power. To seek for more mortals now will only raise suspicions."

Silence fell inside the room, as everyone was reflecting about the critical task that was ahead of them, thinking of the dangers they would face and the possible consequences. Back then, when Loki revealed them the true purpose behind this war and they agreed, none of them had expected this. Their primal instincts kicked in, fear, anxiety, panic, doubt, powerlessness, nobody showed a reaction of course, but it was clearly drawn on their faces. They were contemplating their own survival and none of them could even think of a scenario that they would come alive out of it.

Seeing their demoralized faces, Osiris tried to cheer them up.  
"Do not worry! You are too important to let you die like that. We know that our time is up and we either push forward with what we've got or we all die trying. And if someone is to die first, it would be us. You must live on to carry out this mission." Their expressions improved a little upon hearing that.  
"Thinking back when this started I can say for sure that everything went better than our initial expectations. We ended up with an angel and a demon whose magical energy is unique even among gods and will greatly increase their partner's strength, but that is not all! We also have a very skilled magus who's able to use Zelrech's magic, her sister whose magical power is tremendous, a young man who is a very skilled battlemage and possesses an indomitable fighting spirit and of course the Winchester brothers!" Osiris said with a wide smile which revealed his yellowy dead teeth.

"Wait! How do you know about us?" Dean asked curious.

"Yeah! How do you even know about who we are and what have we accomplished?" Sam asked, weirded out as well.

"You mean except for the fact that you stopped an Apocalypse and Lucifer who killed most of the major gods' earthly manifestations?!" He said with a proud smile.  
"Loki also provided us with info he found about you, during his stay in human Hell. I must say that your accomplishments would make many so called heroes of the past turn green from jealously." Osiris said, still smiling widely.

"Wait-wait-wait? You two saved the world from that Apocalypse five years ago?" Tohsaka uttered surprised.

Sam remained silent, taking a breath to calm himself; Dean seeing his reaction measured his words carefully, before answering. "_Saved_ is a big word, more like managed to contain it at a huge cost; we prefer not to speak about it though…"

"Oh! I see, I am sorry for bringing it up." Tohsaka apologized, seeing the brothers' reaction.

"Wow! You heard that Sam. It seems that our good old pal Crowley is keeping a diary of us!" Dean said in a caustic tone in an effort to change the subject.

"I know, I wonder if he's a secret admirer of us. Or maybe he wants to write a book about us and publish it. He won't be the first though!" Sam added sarcastically. His face wasn't showing the slightest hint of anxiety as a moment ago.

Crolwey grinded his teeth "So, that traitor looked through my files…I will have a word with him once we get there."

"Now, you know all the truth and the basics of our plan. So, I'm asking you again and this time is final! Will you help us? " Osiris said, looking at each of one of them in the eyes.

Unlike a minute ago, wherever he looked now he only saw positive expressions; probably it was their bravado talking, but that was good in its own way. They needed to believe they could do it. They needed to believe that they could succeed where the god couldn't. They had to. Otherwise, forcing them to fight when they had lost their will was basically throwing them to the wolves. And unlike many other gods who may not have cared about their fate, Osiris treated all mortals with respect and wanted their welfare; Isis too, even if it was a bit harder for her to show it than Osiris who could easily comfort them.

Finally his eyes fell on the sliding door.  
"Please come inside young woman! You would hear better and I wouldn't have to shout as much as I did until now in order for you to hear the details."

The sliding door to living room opened slowly and a red-cheeked Sakura came inside alongside a cool Rider who without saying anything picked a free spot and sat down.  
"Where are you going-?" Sakura said to Rider under her teeth, hoping to stay by her side, but she was ignored. All eyes were on her; she felt like a young child who had been caught doing something naughty. Awkward silence filled the room.  
"I apologize for spying on you, it was inappropriate of me. " She said, slightly bowing her head, then her eyes fell on Shirou, he noticed her, staring at him.  
"I am sorry for my unreasonable behavior before, I was acting childish." She apologized and bowed again, awkward silence followed her apology.

He didn't say anything, he just walked in front of her and stood there for a moment looking at her, bowing.  
"I'm sorry too, for saying things that sounded insulting. I never realized that I was hurting your feelings when I was constantly offering my help. I'm sorry for being an idiot" he said quickly, but clearly and bowed abruptly which resulted in their foreheads bumping.

"Ouch-" Sakura uttered.

"Oops, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"Shirou apologized for his clumsiness.

They both lifted their heads and stared deep into each other's eyes for a few moments. His next move though, was something nobody inside the room expected. He knelt in front of her; his right hand reach for his interior pocket.

Sakura fluttered her eyes surprised. "W-What are you doing?!" She said in a slightly high pitched voice.

Shirou took out a small box out of his pocket, he popped it open with his thumb, revealing its contents; A silver ring decorated with two purple gemstones.  
"When I first met you I was nothing more than a lone traumatized person trying to act like a superhero for the greater good; thanks to you, I've learnt to appreciate myself; the love and affection you gave me, showed me the error of my ways. In a world so cold where love can be divided by hate, a single hero cannot do anything by himself; he would live his whole life living solely for the sake of everyone else, except for himself. And in the end, he would drown in his ideals and die, alone and miserable. Thanks to you, I am no longer that a selfless idiot who would do anything for everyone, no matter how much that hurt him, but a man who values his loved ones more than the whole world itself. And if sometimes I am overprotective and act foolishly, it is because I am afraid! Afraid that I might lose you by a single misstep; you are the sun to my world that makes me feel alive! I can't imagine my life without you! So, I'm asking you, Matou Sakura; will you become my partner in life and make me the happiest person alive?" Shirou's completed his proposal without blinking once, constantly looking inside her eyes. He tried to look composed, but in truth he could barely contain the excitement he felt at the moment. His heart was racing in anticipation for her answer.

Sakura looked at her surroundings dumbfounded for a moment, she brought her hands to her mouth and was giggling nervously.  
"Is this real?" She mumbled to herself. A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Y-yes!" She uttered happily while she brought her hands on his cheeks, bringing him closer to her until their lips touched. It started out as kiss that two inexperienced lovers would have, but quickly developed in a hot passionate kiss as those seen in the movies. Their bodies pressed on each other's, as he brought one of his hands behind her back and the other one behind her neck and she wrapped her hands around his neck.

"And here I thought that this day couldn't get any more eventful…." Tohsaka said, chuckling.

"I say this one calls for a celebration!" Dean said enthusiastically.

"Might I suggest that you hold your celebration in our realm? Lady Athena has asked me to bring you all back ASAP! She is quite angry with your delay!" A voice came from the kitchen.

All heads turned and looked at its source. Their eyes widened in surprise with what they saw. Shirou and Sakura too stopped kissing and stared at the stranger who had suddenly appeared inside their house, they were at a loss of words. He looked human, but his body was not made from flesh and blood, but from metal and gears instead. He was an automaton or in other words a robot. His upper body was connected with his legs and arms with chains that were constantly moving, without making any sound though; his chassis was painted silver with trims of gold and red at the edges of his shoulderplates, arms and legs; his helmet was shaped like the helmets of the ancient Roman officers; painted gold with a red mohawk; at the center of his chest, a bright blue light was constantly flickering like crazy, changing between the shades of blue.

The robot looked at the people and noticed their astonishment. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Is it because I forgot to shave? Wait a moment please?" He put his hands on his face which was showing the face of an old bearded man and turned it 180 degrees, revealing a face of a much younger person with no facial hair at all.

Isis let out a sigh of disappointment. "Ah Janus…when will you stop fooling around with every new mortal you see?"

The robot named Janus stared at her for a moment, before it changed back to his elder bearded face. "Lady Isis, as someone who has been doing nothing, but listening to cosmic background radiation for the last few millennia, these little pleasures are all that I have to entertain myself. That and my own music." He said in a calm and soft voice.

"Don't get me started with that horrendous thing which mortals call dubstep." She said, pointing her finger at him.

"Well…it's your opinion. Nobody forces you to listen to it! I always knew that mortals will someday come to recognize the greatness of my creations…But where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. Hello, everyone! My name is Janus, roman god of portals and transitions. Pleasure to meet you."

"I cannot understand how a primordial entity that governs space ended up with such personality." Isis made a sharp remark.

"I'll have you know that-"

"Ok, enough chit-chat" Osiris interrupted him "You said that you were in a hurry to bring us back, so open up a portal to our realm for the mortals."

"Lord Osiris! I barely recognized you in that size. I suppose manifesting yourself to the mortal realm has its limits. Despite that I must say that Lady Isis' doesn't look that different, maybe it is because of her wings that make her look bigger." Janus continued nonchalantly with his rambling.

"Did you just call me fat?" Isis asked annoyed.

"Me? How should I know what _fat _is. I am made of metal, I have exactly zero percent fat index in my whole body." Janus explained eloquently; Isis rolled her eyes in resignation.  
"Well then, I trust you are ready. It might be a little rough landing, so take care and in one…"

"Wait, what is going to happen?" Sam asked nervously.

"This is not good…" Castiel mumbled.

"What is that freak show going to do?" Crowley shouted angry.

"Two…"

"What did he mean by rough landing?" Shirou asked Osiris.

"It's too late to stop him now…I suggest you brace yourself. We'll see up there." Osiris said and with that he and Isis took a glowing stone from their belts, poked them and vanished into nothingness without a trace.

"Sakura, Rin, hang on to me" Rider said to the sisters; they nodded and quickly hugged each of her arms and her waist.

"Three…Watch your step!" Janus spread his arms and six blue portals of whirling blue light opened up on the floor beneath everyone's feet; and all of them fell inside; the crowded room became deserted in an instant and the only one standing inside was Janus.

"_Phew…_Glad that's out of the way. I should go see if Chronos has finished that new piece of music he was talking about, but before that let's make sure to lock the house. It would be bad if those mortals survive and came to see their house robbed." With a snap of his fingers Janus locked all the doors in the house and with gentle push on the air in front of him, he opened up a doorway to another plane of existence; once he stepped inside, the magic door closed behind him, leaving no trace of magic that it existed in the first place.

* * *

_So, what did you think of this one?  
_

_The wedding proposal was something that I added on the spur of the moment, while I was editing it. Originally I had planned on just making them apologize to each other._

_It took me a while to write the scene, but I believe it turned out quite well, _

_**What do think?**_

_(Why so much bowing? Well, it is customary for Japanese to bow in such occasions.)_


	34. Meeting New Allies

_Wow!  
Seems like forever since I posted a new chapter. University, work and games such as Witcher 3 and Blade &amp; Soul held back my writing schedule.  
I'm really happy to be back with a new and big chapter and I hope that you will also like it too!_

_Don't hesitate to tell me your own thoughts about the story via a __**review!**_

**IMPORTANT  
**_As you will come to realize this chapter is __**WAY bigger **__than the rest. The main story actually progresses only in the last part and the rest are like fillers: interactions between the group and the gods I wrote for fun. I wrote them mainly because I wanted to include some of my favorite SMITE characters in the story and because it seemed fun._

_That said, I've split the chapters into several partitions, so you can read it as many smaller chapters at your own leisure rather than one big-ass chapter.  
I've also included a small wiki at the end of the chapter which explains some stuff about the gods' lore and the mythological places mentioned in this chapter.  
Finally, since it has been a while since my last chapter, I figured it would be a good idea to write a small summary of what happened in the previous three chapters since Scylla's defeat._

* * *

**In the previous chapters**

_Sakura had finally awoken from the coma and was released from the hospital. Meanwhile, Tohsaka "tricked" Awilix into revealing her that the gods do not actually intend to drain them of their magical energy in case they don't cooperate with them in the war against Chaos. When they asked for more information about why, Awilix refused to say anything else, her excuse was that neither she nor the others who have been sent to find masters were authorized to do so; So along with Loki and the injured Nemesis, she left for the realm of the gods to discuss that matter with the rest. Before she left, Awilix also gave Dean a potion which the gods brewed in order to help him become mortal again and consequently free up a spot for a new servant-master pairing. The potion worked successfully and later on Sakura and Shirou summoned Isis and Osiris as their new servants which also lead to some interesting surprises such as Sakura's Avenger transformation which she had been keeping secret from Shirou and Shirou's wedding proposal to her later on. Osiris and Isis told them the truth about their role and their mission which was to infiltrate Chaos' base and steal a powerful artifact called Hand of the Gods; that artifact was supposedly constructed from Chaos' own flesh and was the only thing that could actually hurt him. Unfortunately, it was sealed in a room that no divine being could enter, so it had to be a mortal who would take it. In the end, the group decided to help the gods as long as they were honest with them. While they were getting ready to leave, Janus, the roman god of portals and transitions appeared before them and told them they were late, offering to let them use his portal to travel faster._

* * *

**That's where this chapter resumes.**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Arrival**

Travelling through Janus' portals was never a good experience for anyone, except maybe for Janus himself; most of the gods detested asking for his help when they needed a quick means of travel. They preferred using their own magic and magical energy, even if it was slower in most cases rather than travel through his portals. The reason was simple, Janus never ever seemed to let them use his portals without paying a price; and that price was usually a little prank for his entertainment; a bumpy ride, a rough landing or in our group's case both.

"Aw…I almost broke my hipbone from the fall!" Dean said grunting in pain.

"At least, you didn't end up like me…guh-" Sam grunted, as he tried to move away from Crowley who had landed on top of him.

"Do you think I enjoy being in that position moose?! I swear if you let one go as we are now, you'll regret it!" Crowley barked at him annoyed.

"Sam goes for you Crowley" Sam retorted.

"Sakura, Rin are you alright?" Rider asked them as she offered them her hand to help stand up.

"I'm fine. Where is Shirou?" Sakura asked.

"Over there! " Tohsaka pointed at her left where Shirou was lying down on the floor face up, next to Castiel.

"Shirou are you okay?" Sakura rushed to his side to check up on him.

"Yeah...somehow I landed relatively smoothly." He replied.

"Where are we anyways?" Castiel asked, as he inspected the room in which they have landed.

It was a small room with plain gray walls, no furniture, no windows and not a single source of light, but yet they could still see. Suddenly, they heard a clicking and the walls around them disappeared in an instant. Their eyes took a while to get used to the blinding light of the environment and when they finally opened them, they were left speechless with the sight before their eyes.

They were standing atop of a staircase, from where they could oversee the whole place; they were inside a gigantic dome; the walls and the floor were made from polished white marble; tall cypress and palm trees were planted along its perimeter; the dome had three massive, wooden gates, inside each gate there were blue whirling lights, similar to that of Janus' portals.

"Wow…!" Tohsaka exclaimed.

"Where is that sunlight coming from though?" Castiel asked.

"Huh? Yeah…there are now windows on the walls" Shirou said.

Instinctively, they looked on the ceiling, they were astounded to say the least with what they saw; A mini sun was hovering around the ceiling and on top of it, a woman's in flames was waving at them

"Oh! Hello!" She said in cheerful voice when she realized she was being watched, suddenly the temperature rose drastically.

"Try not to burn them alive as soon as they have arrived Sol!" A familiar, loud voice echoed throughout the place.

"Oops…apologies!" The fire woman said playfully, bringing down the temperature to normal levels.

"_Phew…_that was close! We're not even here a single minute and we almost died." Dean said relieved.

"It makes you wonder if it was a good idea to ally ourselves with them." Sam said, as he was shaking the dust off his clothes.

"Ah! Don't say that! I would never burn an adorable creature like you!" Sam heard a voice from behind him.

"Whoa!" Sam exclaimed surprised. "What? When did you…?"

"Hmm…You look even cuter from up close!" She said excited, completely ignoring his questions, inspecting him from head to toes as she flew around him.

Her whole body was on fire, literally; blazing, red flames was her body and bright, golden ones her hair; she wore no clothes, but she couldn't exactly be considered naked, as she lacked the most basic human features, pubic area, nipples and a bellybutton; she had the figure of a curvy, but yet athletic woman, with nicely shaped round breasts, toned thighs and butt; despite her lack of human characteristics though, she had a weird charm and beauty on her and her light-hearted and playful voice only added positively to her whole image.

Then, another figure showed up, this time it was a familiar one, it was Awilix.  
"Ah! It's glad to see you are all okay." Awilix said relieved. "I'm sorry about Sol, she gets excited easily and when she does her body temperature rises…with unpredictable side effects… Anyway, how was the trip?"

"We've had worse..." Tohsaka replied.

"Master! Or Should I call by your name now, since the facade is over? Hmm….nah! Master sounds better. Anyway, how have you been? I missed you! I hope you're not still mad at me." She said cheerfully.

Tohsaka sighed, shaking her head. "Well, even if I wanted to, I have no reason to. After what we've heard from Osiris and Isis, I'm pretty sure you did reveal all those hints to me about your whole plan on purpose! I am not really sure what to make of you. Tell me, did you do it on purpose?" Tohsaka asked her intrigued.

She smiled impishly. "No no no…you totally played me!" She blinked her eye at her. "Now then, shall we go meet with the others. You've already met Sol, but there are many more people here that you should totally meet. All of them will be fighting in the decisive battle."

"Other people?!But this place looks abandoned?" Tohsaka said.

"Ah right! We forgot to adjust the protective mist, so that you can see through it." Awilix said.

"The protective mist…?" Shirou asked befuddled.

"Yes, a mist that Nuwa had conjured which does all sorts of awesome stuff….well, I actually don't remember what it does exactly! But I know that it keeps our base's location hidden from Chaos' spies and also conceals any sign of life in it, unless of course we want to be seen. Wait a moment…._Ahem_….Snake lady! The humans are here!" Awilix shouted loudly.

A few moments later, their field of view was filled with several figures all around the place and loud indistinct chatter reached their ears.  
"Okay, now that this is out of the way, shall we?" Awilix said cheerfully, showing them the staircase.  
"And Sol, if you are to come down with us, try to control yourself, this place might be fireproof, but we are not! Remember what happened last time…"

Sol snorted. "Last time? _Pffft_….It was an accident! I didn't want to set them on fire. How long are you going to rub that one on me?"

"Accident?! You put fire on Guan Yu's beard, Aphrodite's hair, Isis' feathers, Suku's fur, Thor's cape- "

"Okay okay, stop! You're embarrassing me in front of the humans! They will think that I am some kind of weirdo if you keep saying those things. I'll be careful."

"Oh don't worry about that! At this point, our esteem for you can only go upwards." Crowley threw a caustic remark.

Sol gave him an angry glare. "You! I do not like! You are the one the Trickster found, I do not like him either. Do not speak to me! Unless you have to."  
She turned her back to him and casually glided over at Sam's side who had found an opportunity to slip away from her while she was distracted. Crowley shrugged his shoulders and started walking down the stair with his hands in his pockets.

"There you are!" Sol said happily, as she wrapped her arm around his. "Let's go!"

Sam stared at his arm with terrified eyes, he expected it to turn to ash as soon as she grabbed it. "Why am I not getting burnt?"

"I've adjusted my temperature to match human standards. You can even brush my hair if you want -see!" she said, as she pulled his hand inside her flaming, golden hair.

"Wait-huh…that feeling is actually nice!"

Sol chuckled. "Let's go, we should find a place to ourselves."

"Wait? What?!" but before Sam could object, she was already dragging him down the stairs.

"Lucky bastard Sam!" Dean mumbled.

"_Hmm_…I don't follow." Castiel said.

"Come on Cas! Do I have to explain this too?" Dean said jokingly.

"Wait?! You don't mean-"

"That's exactly what I mean. She has curves in all the right places and she can make herself cold, so you won't get burnt when you touch her." Dean said laughing..

"And do what exactly with her? Did you even notice her lack of…womanly characteristics?" Castiel said in a low voice, embarrassed not to be heard.

"_Hmm_…I'm sure she has them, but she hides them with magic." Dean retorted skeptically.

"_Sigh…_You're thinking this too much Dean! Besides, she might burn Sam alive by accident, if she gets too excited!"

"At least, he'll have a happy ending!" Dean said, chuckling, as he started descending the stairs.

"Happy ending?" Castiel stuttered for a moment.

"Remember the book I gave you to read about massages?"

"That book! As far as I remember it was about – Oh!" He exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Dean laughed as he walked down the stairs.

"Shall we go too?" Sakura asked Rider and Tohsaka.

"Ah! Master's sister. Nice to meet you too as well. I don't think you remember me. I was in the hospital when you woke up." Awilix said.

Sakura looked confused for a moment, before her face lit up. "Ah yes! I didn't have a chance to thank you. Thank you for taking care of me." She said slightly bowing her head at Awilix, a gesture which made Awilix blushed a bit.

"_Ahem_…you're welcome!" She said, scratching her cheek, surprised with her earnest gesture of gratitude. "By the way, I've spoken with some people and we have a present for you." She said pointing at Sakura.

"Me?" Sakura pointed surprised at herself. "What? Why? I mean, why would you give me a present?" Sakura asked.

"Consider it a token of our apology for letting that monster attack you. It was our fault that Chaos managed to summon Scylla as a servant after all. In a short while, there will be a public announcement about the upcoming battle which leaves us with a very small time frame to give you your present.  
Come on! We've wasted enough time!" Awilix prompted them to move, as she started descending the stairs herself.

Tohsaka, Shirou and Sakura followed after her. "Aren't you coming Rider?" Sakura asked her when she noticed that she hadn't moved.

"I'll catch up with you." Rider said; Sakura tilted her head, perplexed with her reply. "I want to take a good look of this place from up high." Sakura nodded at her and followed the others.

* * *

**Crowley**

Crowley was strolling around the base, inspecting his new "_allies"_.  
"I have to admit that despite being a bunch of freaks, they have quite a good taste in architecture." He mumbled to himself.  
"Maybe, I should redecorate the walls back home-_thump_" His feet stumbled on something.  
"What bloody business does a garden gnome have here?!" He said angrily. "What's with those clothes?"

"Excuse me sir! I think that you owe me an apology! You stumbled on me!" A voice came from below.

Crowley jumped back surprised, when he heard the gnome talk. "What the-! I thought you were a decoration! What were you doing, standing still, in the middle of the room?"

The short and chubby guy who was glaring at Crowley was wearing only a sleeveless orange gi_* (martial arts uniform) _with a black belt. He had white wavy tattoos across his face and arms and no hair at all; his head was completely bald; shinier than their future. Also, he was barefoot.

"I was in a state of deep meditation and you interrupted me by carelessly stumbling on me. I think you owe me an apology." He said in a strict, but calm voice.

"Apology? What for? It's your damn fault for standing like an imbecile in the middle of a room full of people." Crowley replied ironically.

"I've been doing that for a while now and never, anyone stumbled on me. It seems to me that you might have issues with your vision." The short man countered Crowley's rudeness with a sharp comment.

Crowley sneered. "Sorry, to disappoint you, but where I come from if an idiot is standing in the middle of the road, he will likely get hit by the passing vehicles. No one will blame the cars, instead they will all say that it was the idiot's fault." Crowley made a sharp comeback at the conversation.

"Do you know perhaps the saying "_when in Rome, do as the Romans do"? _You obviously have no idea where you are now and with what kind of people, you're dealing with?  
If I didn't know any better, I would say that Loki chose a brain- impaired person to be his master! But I suppose that's not the case, right? You'll apologize and we'll both be on our way, right?" The short man goggled his eyes, staring at Crowley intensely.

"_Pfft_….Do you really think that your provocations or the weird glare you're giving me, are enough to make me apologize? Even if you are god or whatever, there is no way that the king of Hell would apologize to a baby human like you.'" Crowley started laughing.

"How, did you call me?" The short man said in a slow, clear, angry voice.

Crowley's laughter became louder, when he saw him getting angry. "Ha-ha-hah, the baby got angry! What are you going to do now baby, throw me your milk. You better drink it, so you can grow up." He turned to leave, when suddenly, a large shadow fell on him.  
"_Huh_?" he turned around and it was at that moment that Crowley knew he fucked up.

The short man had transformed into a giant, as tall as a four story building; he was holding his foot, just above Crowley, ready to squash him like an insect. "Who's small now? _Huh_? Who's small now?" He shouted at him provokingly.

"Come on now! Do you know that blood isn't easy to clean….yeah…especially demon's blood! Demon's blood leaves permanent stains. It will be a shame to dirty the floor with my filthy blood, right?  
There is no need to make me a stain on the ground! Besides, I wasn't seriously calling you a bab-_Bam_" His foot stomped on the ground where Crowley was standing.

"Huh? Where did he go?" The giant searched around for him with no success, he had vanished.

"Well, _Master_! You helped me when Artemis' filthy beast injured me and I just spared the cleaning lady another boring task, so I guess we are even." Loki said with a smug smile on his face.

"Tsk…and I was wondering where you have been." Crowley said as he shook off the dust from his clothes.

"You know…here and there…pulling off some pranks while waiting for you to come here." Loki replied with his usual devilish smile. Painted on his lips.

"Who was that charming fellow who wanted to make me one with the ground?" Crowley asked.

"That was Vamana, one of the twelve Avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu. Be careful around this one, his short temper is only outclassed from his height." Loki explained.

"And does he usually go around stomping his allies." Crowley asked sarcastically.

"No, not really. He's more of a passive aggressive guy, but you must have called him by the taboo word, so he got pissed with you." Loki said.

"So he was intending to stomp me - an ally, flat on the ground, because I called him baby...even the Winchesters aren't that dumb."

"Come on now, don't be sour. It's not like you would die or anything. You are not exactly mortal…like the others."

'This meatsuit has served me well and I'd rather not lose it to some hot-headed idiot." Crowley said as he buttoned his jacket.

"Anyway, make sure to lay low until the announcement. I cannot afford to have you dying on me now. They will sent me back to find another and I had my share of the mortal world for the time being." Loki made a small bow and disappeared inside a small cloud of smoke.

* * *

**Dean**

"Hey Sam! Stop screwing around for a minute and take a look over there! Looks like, Crowley is about to be squashed to a pulp. This should be interesting…" Dean called his brother who was desperately trying to escape from Sol's grasp, but to no avail.

"_Huh_? Where did those two go? Anyway…oh come on, I turned away for a moment and it is already over. Figures…" Dean mumbled as his hand reached for a bowl of dried nuts.

He felt a sharp pain on his hand.  
"Hey! Keep your filthy hands off my nuts!" An angry high pitched voice reached his ears. Dean turned around and he saw a squirrel, biting his hand.

"What the hell? Let go of my hand!" Dean shook his hand violently, until the squirrel was thrown up on a tree. "_Tssk_…crazy animal! I hope it's not diseased."

"Who are you calling diseased human?" The squirrel jumped on the table and yelled at Dean with his squeaky voice.

"Wait! You can talk?! But you're a squirrel! Don't tell me you are a god too?" Dean said surprised.

"Hah! Foolish, ignorant mortal! I'm the greatest of all the gods here. My name is Ratatoskr, Looord of creation, maker of aaaall living things, and destroyer of the winds of fate! Bow before me and ask for my forgiveness! " Ratatoskr shouted in a loud, pompous voice, puffing out his chest.

"Wow! You sound important!" Dean said amazed.

"That's because I am!" Ratatoskr puffed up his chest even more and wiggled his furry tail happily.

"Don't take that furball, seriously! He's just a messenger." Another voice came from above and suddenly a short, wrinkled, bearded man landed on the table. He was wearing a simple green tunic and no shoes. Despite his old age, he sounded quite energetic.

"Silence senile old man! Go back to your tree!" Ratatoskr shouted.

"You mean the one which you were napping on, until a moment ago? You should pay me and Groover rent for letting you stay in his trunk. Isn't that right Groover?" The old man said, looking at the tree next to Dean.

"Ummmmmmmmmm…." A long approving groan came from the tree.

"See! Groover agrees."

"Wait a moment here!" Dean said freaked out. "Don't tell me that you- " he pointed at the old man. "-And that tree are gods too."

"Ah no! I'm the god, Groover is just my partner. I've met him a long time ago and we've grown inseparable since then. My name is Sylvanus, Roman god of forests and wildlife, also known as Keeper of the Wilds and this is Groover." Sylvanus said proudly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dean." Dean offered his hand at him; Sylvanus grabbed his hand which was gigantic compared to his own and shook it.

After a lengthy handshake, he released his hand. "Are you thirst by any chance? I have large jug of wine which Dionysus gave me and I can't possibly drink it all by myself. So, are you up for a drinking game?" Sylvanus asked him perkily.

Dean's eyes shone upon hearing his offer. "And here I thought that I had drank my last alcohol for today. Bring it on! But let me warn you! I am not a lightweight."

Sylvanus grinned. "Tell me that after you had a few rounds of divine wine - Groover! Bring out the booze." Sylvanus said to his tree which moved one of its branches and took out a large clay jug out of its trunk.

"Are you staying here squirrel? Don't you have any messages to deliver?" Sylvanus asked Ratatoskr.

"_Pffft_…..work, work, work. Fine! I'll go since that lazy busybody Hermes has yet to return from Olympus." Ratatoskr wolfed down the nut he was holding and stashed some more for the road inside the small leather backpack strapped around him.  
"See ya! "He said briskly and jumped up high in the air, disappearing from their view.

"Where did he go?" Dean asked.

"Atop of Yggdrasil's branches leading towards Asgard." Sylvanus replied indifferently.

"Uh-huh…" Dean nodded, even though he wasn't sure what to make of it.

* * *

**Sam**

"Hey, Dean is calling me! Let's go see wh-"

"He will be okay. Meanwhile, why don't you tell me a few things about yourself." Sol said perkily, as he dragged Sam away from his brother.

"Can you at least let go of my hand! I swear, I won't go anywhere" Sam said exasperated.

She blinked surprised at the tone of his voice, but she reluctantly obeyed and let go of his hand.  
"Ehmmm…I know I said to let go of my hand, but if you don't move away a bit to give me some breathing space, there is no freaking difference from before!" he shouted at her.

"Mmmmm….you know what? I think you would look great with your hair in a ponytail? What do you say?" She asked him nonchalantly, completely ignoring his request.

"_Sigh….._no! I like my hair as it is. Can you move now?" Sam asked her again, frustrated.

"What?! Ah sure!" she replied, moving ever so slightly away from him.

"_Phew…_I suppose that will be all the space I will be getting." Sam mumbled to himself.

"What's that? You found yourself a new toy to play with, sun-woman? Try not to incinerate him while you are at it!" A male voice reached their ears.

Sam turned around and saw two figures, a man and a woman; he also noticed that Sol immediately frowned displeased when she saw that man. "And here I thought you were still away on a mission. I thought it would take you longer, considering your skills." Sol said condescendingly.

The man was of medium size shorter than Sam, but more muscular than him. He had tanned skin, bright opal eyes and long dark brown hair, tied in a ponytail down to his waist. He was wearing a red scarf around his neck and a dark red, sleeveless tunic, with golden trimmings at the neck. A beige linen sash, embroidered with a yellow Chinese dragon was wrapped up around his stomach. His lower garments consisted of black silk pants and short, flat green leather boots. Like most of the gods Sam had encountered up until now, he too had a distinguishing feature on him; it was his golden, wing- shaped half-mask which was adorned with nine red gemstones, four at each side and one in the middle.

"I came back in a hurry. The final battle is upon us and I had to be here. What about you sun-woman? Still fooling around?" He retorted arrogantly.

"Please…stick to your little arrows and leave god business to actual deities." Sol said in a haughty tone. "Oh I know! Instead of pestering me, why don't you go spend some quality time with your wife while you are at it."

"Leave her out of it!" Houyi said briskly.

"Touched a soft spot, I see!" Sol smirked. "Don't tell me your golden crow doesn't soar anymore?" Sam let out a muffled chuckle.

Houyi blushed slightly, but maintained his composure. "I wonder if that annoying attitude of yours happens, because you are constantly in heat!" He retorted with a sharp comment.

Sol squinted her fiery eyes causing sparks to fly in all directions. "How dare you -?"

"Now-now, stop fighting you two! Houyi, you ought to respect Sol's contribution; she provides us with her sunlight ever since we established this base and she's also one of the few among us who can probably take head on Chaos' servants without any help.  
And Sol! Houyi spends a lot of time fighting in the frontline to keep the enemy from reaching this base, you shouldn't badmouth his efforts! If only they hadn't asked for my help here at base I would have joined him in an instant." The woman beside Houyi said in calm, soft, but yet serious voice.

Sol let out a small grumble. "I can't believe how the mortals revered someone as you" She said in a lower voice than before, but audible enough to be heard from her intended target.

"Watch your mouth sun-woman! Or you'll have the same fate as those sunbirds…they used to be ten of them, now there's only one." Houyi replied without looking at her.

The woman sighed. "Okay that's enough!" The woman shouted, clapping her hands. "You are both gods, start acting like ones." She said strictly voice.

"The lady is right, we shouldn't fight among ourselves." Sam interjected in their conversation, which had as a result all three of them to turn around and stare at him; they had obviously completely forgotten about his existence.

"Call me Chang'e young man!" The woman said with a smile.

It was when she smiled at him that Sam noticed the woman's unique beauty. She looked like she was in her early thirties. With pale white skin, green emerald eyes, and dark hair tied in two buns. She was wearing a solid purple, silk blouse with long sleeves and a wrap-around long, mauve skirt down to her ankles. The skirt was tied tightly just beneath her bosom with a light blue sash, toning her small and firm bust. White cloud shapes were embroidered at the edges of the sleeves and at the edges of the skirt. Two silver earrings shaped like crescent moons were decorating her ears, but her most distinguishing feature was her tiara. Just from one glance you could tell that it was worth millions; golden, decorated with several gems, mostly sapphires and rubies with two dragon-shaped protrusions at the sides.

"Tell me human, aren't you afraid of her?" Houyi pointed at Sol. "You do know that she's unstable and that she can kill you accidentally."

"Well, yes, but I've had worse. In the past, I was in a relationship with a demon and I had also been possessed by Lucifer some years ago; in general, I've been dealing with all sorts of dangerous people throughout my life so compared to them, she's delightful! Even if she is a bit crazy." Sam replied.

"I see…" Houyi said emotionlessly.

"Did you hear that? Did you hear that? He called me delightful! That's a good sign, right?!" Sol whispered to Chang'e, excited.

Chang'e chuckled awkwardly. "Well, he also called crazy, so don't be so sure about that."

"They will call us for the announcement soon! Do you want to go grab something to eat in the meantime?" Houyi asked Chang'e.

"I'd love to." She said cheerfully, hopping on his side and wrapping her arm around his. "See you around!" She waved her hand at Sam and Sol.

"How long are they together?" Sam asked, tilting his head questionably.

"Well, they are married for a long time. But soon after their marriage they became separated, but only for a few centuries. Later, Houyi ascended to godhood and was reunited with Chang'e. I can't understand though, how such a good girl like her, fell for a miserable guy like him…  
Still, I have to admit though that he wasn't always like that; when he was still just a mortal he was kind of cute. But I guess life changes people, drastically sometimes. Now he's such an arrogant little prick who tries to piss me off at every chance he gets!" Sol complained.

"To be fair, you said some harsh things to him too." Sam said scratching his head.

"_Hmph_…he started it!" Sol said, crossing her arms and looked away from Sam.

"_Hmmm_…Let's just drop the subject okay? Can you tell me something else?" Sam asked her.

"I did bring you here, so I could seduce you, but that idiot ruined our moment. So, ask away!" She said slightly angry.

"Ahem…leaving all joking aside; tell me truthfully, are you really a danger to us?" Sam asked her flustered with what she had just said.

"Joking? Who's joking? I wasn't joking….Anyway, he's not wrong to worry! Actually, even I I am a bit worried about myself. All my life, my only true concern was avoiding Fenrir's son -Sköll who according to the prophecy would eat me alive when Ragnarok arrives. Time after time he bared his fangs at me and time after time I repelled him…alone!  
Houyi is actually worried that I might go overboard and hurt our side too during the fighting. I never fought side by side with others before, I had only myself to watch out for. But now with Chaos and all that…_sigh -_I have to be careful how I use my power and not let my emotions get the better of me."

"Well…you almost did burn us when we arrived." Sam scratched his nose awkwardly.

"I know -I know and I'm sorry for that! It wasn't my intention…I was just a bit excited to see new people." She apologized, hanging her head.  
"You see, ever since I came here I have been feeling lonely; much lonelier than I have been while I was staying alone on the sun."

"…" Sam remained silent.

"I barely ever talked to gods from my own pantheon. And now, being around so many people, yet having no one to talk to you is really depressing…that's why I was excited to see some new faces." Sol smiled faintly at him.

Sam blushed a bit. Despite her obvious lack of human characteristics and her unique nature, this peculiar woman before him, was no less human than he was; she could feel joy, sadness, get excited, angry, make jokes, throw insults and yet she was being treated differently because of her powers. He could sympathize with her, he had similar experiences in his life as well. Though in his case, he had his brother and his other friends to help him deal with his demonic powers; Sol had no one to stand up for her, no one to support her, no one to turn for help, she was all alone inside a building full of allies. He was actually feeling a bit sad about her situation.

"So, how about you show me around the base?" He asked her with a smile.

"Really?! You want to walk with me?_ Ahem_…I mean are you sure you want to walk now? Aren't you tired from the dimensional trip?" For the first time, since she started talking to him, she looked genuinely surprised.

"A bit! But I'd really like to know more about this place and well…you don't seem to have anything better to do; so, would you mind showing me around?" Sam asked her.

"Sure!" She said smiling brightly, her fiery hair shone brightly as she wrapped her arm around his.

* * *

**Castiel**

Castiel was scouting the gigantic dome's hall for his servant, Nemesis.  
_"Sigh…_I can't seem to find her anywhere." He sighed frustrated.  
"Excuse-me!" he asked a tall man in armor. Have you seen a woman in armor?"

The man slowly turned around, the first thing Castiel noticed was that the man was a hand short. Instead he wore a heavy, by the looks, metal fist on his right arm which had the shape of a wolf. The second most peculiar thing about him was the blinking gem that was embedded in the middle of his metal-plated coat. The man himself looked pretty impressive as well, with his shaved head and well-trimmed goatee, it wasn't a face you easily forget. From the moment he turned around, his narrow small eyes had locked on Castiel, sizing him up suspiciously.

"You'll have to be more specific than that! Half of the goddesses here wear battle armor. Besides, who are you?" he asked Castiel in a strict tone.

"Ah, excuse-me! My name is Castiel, I am an angel, I just came here and I'm looking for my partner Nemesis. I've said some…things to her which I regret. And I would like to apologize to her, before the battle." Castiel said in an earnest, sincere voice.

"_Huh? _So, you're Nemesis master! The one who abandoned her while she was injured." The man in armor sounded slightly angry. "What kind of warrior leaves his injured comrade to fend for himself?"

His presence was quit imposing, Castiel lowered his head apologetically. "I…I am sorry, I overreacted at the time. I should had at least helped her walk back home."  
Castiel then, lifted his head and faced him. "Anyhow, while I know I did wrong, I want to hear what she has to say for her own behavior. So, can you lead me to her or at least tell where I can find her?" Castiel said determined, not flinching in front of the man's intimidating presence.

"If you think that I will just take you to her, you're delusional. Do you really expect me to trust? After everything you made her go through!"

"That's enough you two!" A loud, familiar voice reached their ears.  
They both turned to look at its source, it was Nemesis. "If you want to talk to me Castiel, I'm here. And you Tyr, what childish behavior is that? I've already told you that Castiel is my partner and if he asked for me, I had told you to point him to my direction."

"I just-" The man in armor stuttered, surprised at her response to him.

"_Hmm_…do you mind if we talk somewhere where we can be alone?" Castiel asked her.

"_Hmph_…Fine, come with me to my quarters if you want to talk. I actually have something to ask you as well." Nemesis said to him. So they left together leaving behind them the dumbfounded Tyr.

* * *

**Sakura**

"Stop! That's as far as you three go. From here on, only Sakura is allowed." Awilix said strictly to Shirou, Tohsaka and Rider.

"What? Why?" Rider complained.

"It's about her gift! None other except for her should be present when she receives it." Awilix explained.

"But-"

"No objections! Come Sakura." Awilix offered her hand to her.

"Where are we going? And why can't they come?" She asked.

"You'll see…"Awilix said, grinning.

Sakura hesitantly grabbed her hand and as soon as she did, Awilix opened up her pace and eventually they completely disappeared from their field of view when they entered a side door on the dome's wall. Apparently, there were a lot of side doors on the perimeter; each one leading to a different area of the base; where they were now was just the grand hall, something like a commons room.

"So, what should we do?" Shirou asked.

"I am going to take a walk, I've spotted some old friends as we arrived. I thought it would be rude not to at least say _hello_." She turned around and walked away; her long hair fluttering left and right following her body's graceful movements.

"Let's go then." Tohsaka said.

"Where to?" Shirou asked.

"I want to find that Nuwa." Tohsaka said excited.

"Huh? Who's that?" Shirou asked confused.

"Come on Emiya-kun! Has your memory started failing you at such young age? Poor Sakura…she would be so sad when you forget her birthday…I can't imagine how would she feel when you forget your first anniversary…" Tohsaka said in a dramatic voice.

"When is my birthday Tohsaka?" Shirou asked interrupting her dramatic monologue.

His question hit the spot. "What?! _Ehm…ehm_….." Tohsaka was stuttering, trying to remember.

"_Payback time…_Oh Tohsaka, has your memory started failing you at such young age? Your poor students will feel really bad when they realize that their favorite teacher cannot remember their names or any spells to teach them-"

"23 March!" Tohsaka shouted at his face.

"Wrong! It's 24! And as for me I remembered who that Nuwa is. It is the one who put up the protective mist around this base and you want to meet her for advice or something similar. Am I right?" Shirou said with a smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Damn you, shut up and get moving." She commanded him and started walking without looking back.

Sakura saying _yes_ to his proposal was the second best thing that happened to him today; putting Tohsaka into her place really made his day. He followed after her while whistling cheerfully.

"Here we are!" Awilix said enthusiastically, showing Sakura another whirly blue portal on the wall; she had seen a lot of them since they entered that side door.

When Sakura walked through the portal, she was left speechless with the beautiful scenery she came across; they were standing on lush green grass and were surrounded by tall pine trees; across from her, a small pond with crystal clear water. The birds were chirping and cold air was blowing on her face, throwing stands of hair in her mouth. As they walked a bit, Sakura noticed that there were people waiting for them. They were sitting on comfy seats around a round marble table beside the lake's shore; surprisingly, they were all women. One of them was the goddess whom Sakura had summoned, Isis.

Between the other two, Sakura couldn't decide which one was more beautiful. Undoubtedly, Isis was a beautiful woman, even with the feathers growing out of her arms, she had a unique beauty of her own, but the other two were just dazzling. The first one was a warrior or at least she had been in battle before; the sword she carried strapped on her back was proof enough about that. She was also wearing a shiny metal breastplate along with a short leather combat skirt, studded leather armguards and hide boots. Despite her warrior looks though, Sakura couldn't find any obvious imperfections on her, such as battle scars or dirt on her clothes. On contraire, her milky white skin was flawless, her platinum-blonde braided hair, silky and smooth. But her most distinct characteristic was her icy blue eyes, even without make-up to tone them, they were still extraordinarily captivating, enough to get lost in them.

The other one, unlike Isis who was wearing several jewels and the woman in armor, was much more simply dressed. A plain, white dress and sandals, were all that consisted her clothing. Despite that, for Sakura she was the most beautiful out of the three. The dress was perfectly complimenting her voluptuous hourglass figure, revealing a fair amount of cleavage, but hiding just enough to stir your imagination; and also had a side-cut, flashing her right thigh, as she moved her legs. Sakura found herself gawking at her, even if it was for just a few fleeting moments; it was then that she noticed the rest of her characteristics, seductive dark eyes, long, slightly messy brown hair, rosy red lips and fair skin complexion.

"Where are we? Did we travel to another dimension again?" Sakura asked Awilix when she snapped out of the brief trance she fell into.

"Nope, we're still in our dimension, this is just another one of our rooms here. There is also one that looks like a jungle, that's where me and Suku usually hang out, but it had to be this room, in order for what is about to ensue."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

But her question was left unanswered as Isis came to greet them. "I see you wasted no time bringing her here. Good! So, Sakura are you ready?" Isis asked.

"…" Sakura looked at her confused.

Isis sighed. "She didn't tell you what we are going to do, didn't she?"

Sakura shook her head. "She just told me that you are giving me a present as a way of apology."

"It wouldn't be much of a present if I had told her now, would it?" Awilix said.

"That… _present _will also make you stronger. But before we move on, let me introduce you to the people who will be helping. This is Freya queen of the Valkyries." She pointed at the woman with the sword.

"Hello, my name is Matou Sakura, honored to meet you Freya-san!" Sakura greeted her politely and bowed slightly. Freya silently nodded her head at her, without showing any kind of emotion.

"And this is Aphrodite Greek…_cough-cough_…goddess of beauty and love."

"Honored to-?" Before Sakura could finish her sentence, she was interrupted.

"What kind of lousy introduction was that? What do you take me for?" Aphrodite shouted angry at Isis.

"Tsk…"Freya clicked her tongue annoyed.

"You should be happy that I mentioned that you are an actual goddess and not just a room decoration." Isis said sarcastically.

"Hah…Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, just be mad that you're not." Aphrodite said smugly.

Sakura noticed Isis' eyebrow twitching. "You are like a porcelain doll, beautiful! But useless!" Isis said with contempt.

"You know, some say beauty is a curse, I say it's all in how you use it! And I know how to, pretty damn well if I may say so. Unlike you, I have both skills and looks." Aphrodite replied calmly.

"By Odin's beard! Shut your damn holes, before I open you a new one!" Freya yelled at them, drawing her sword and putting it between the two goddesses. Sakura noticed that the sword had shiny blue carvings on its blade; thanks to her sister's lessons, Sakura knew that those were the Nordic runes for the words _warrior, fertility, wings, protection _and _growth._

"Freya's right! You two haven been arguing ever since you met each other. Can you put aside your differences for a moment and cooperate to help Sakura?" Awilix said in an effort to calm them down.

Isis took a deep breath and exhaled. "Sakura is the one who summoned me. In Holy Grail's terms, she is my master and I wish for her to be in full strength when we go out in the battlefield. I'm willing to let this one slide and even propose a truce." She said looking at Aphrodite.

"Fine…I came all this way from Olympus to see why I was summoned here, I might as well help with the ritual." She said after a brief period of pondering.

"Ritual? What ritual? You said there was a present." Sakura asked slightly disturbed, after hearing the world _ritual._

"You don't have anything to worry about. This ritual is our gift to you. We will restore you as you were, before you were attacked by Scylla. This way you will become stronger." Isis explained.

"_Huh_? "Sakura tilted her head. "I don't understand, how will having my breasts back help me become stronger?" She asked.

"I trust you know already that creating magical energy inside your body is like normal breathing?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, nee-san explained to me once how that mechanism works. She also told that this is how she found out about the parasite Caster had planted inside of me." (*_Chapter 18_)

"Well then, you should also know that women are also biologically better at channeling and controlling their magical energy than men. The reason behind that is because of their breasts. Nature's purpose for women's breasts is nurturing and sustaining life. Breasts are meant for feeding babies, plain and simple. But that also extends to magical energy. Women have a lot more of magical circuits inside their breasts compared to the rest of their bodies. More circuits mean more ways for the energy to travel throughout the body, more ways also means more magical output, therefore better mana flow. And with your huge amounts of mana, more magical veins for the mana to travel across would make a noticeable difference in power. You'll see when we are finished."  
The way Isis crossed her arms as she was explaining the magic behind a woman's breasts reminded Sakura of Tohsaka ; for a moment there she thought she was in one of her sister's lessons.

"So, if I get my breasts back that means that I would be able to provide you with more magical energy during battle?"

Isis nodded. "Not only that, you will be able to use more mana to strengthen your own spells and that transformation of yours." Isis added.

"Why all of you though? I mean, is that so hard of a task to do? Not to sound rude, but a plastic surgeon could do that, without any magic." Sakura said.

"It's not about the physical form of the breasts only. If it was only that, even her-" She pointed at Aphrodite who frowned. "- could restore them alone. It's about restoring your magical circuits inside as well. Aphrodite will make sure to restore your breasts exactly as they were physically, I hate to admit it, but that's probably the only thing she's good at, measuring people's body sizes."

"Sorry, you said something about me? I couldn't hear you over the sound of the millions of people making love as we speak. Keep to your spells and I'll stick on making people happy." Aphrodite said in a haughty tone.

"_Pff_….as I was saying, she will restore your physical body and Freya and I will restore your magical circuits. We both used to be revered as goddesses of fertility, so we have a knowledge about how everything should be." Isis made a small pause and continued.  
"Take off your clothes and bathe inside the lake, its water is rich in divine magical energy which will make the whole process easier. We will join you, when we complete our preparations."

Sakura blushed embarrassed, being asked to do such a thing all of a sudden, but her desire to have her body restored overcame her shyness, so she started taking off her clothes. She even took off the bandages around her chest which were covering her stiches from the surgery. When her foot touched the water, she thought that it would be cold, but it was surprisingly warm. She swam around for a bit, it was a good exercise for her muscles and her heart as well; she had swam to the end of the small pond when she decided to go underwater; when she emerged in the center of the pond, she was greeted with an once-in-a-lifetime spectacle which she was quite sure not a mortal or even a god had ever witnessed up until now. Before her, all three of the goddesses were standing in their birthday suits.

* * *

**Rider**

"Tsk… I swear, I saw her." Rider mumbled as she walked through the crowds.

Then, she heard a woman's voice. "Excuse-me! Has any of you seen a goddess named Bellona? Short black hair, sharp face, usually wearing armor, carrying a huge sword…."

"Bellona huh? She's either sparring with the troops or napping under a thick shadow."

The woman chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like her. I didn't see her in the camp outside as I arrived, so she must be somewhere in here. Thank you!"

"Excuse-me!" Rider stopped the woman. "I overheard your conversation, are you looking for Bellona too? I am actually on my way to greet her, she's an old friend. Do you mind if I tag along?" Rider asked.

"No problem, never thought that I would meet any of Bellona's friends. She's a little obstinate, if I may put it gently."

Rider chuckled. "Yeah a bit. I haven't seen her for a long time though, I wonder how she's doing."

"Before we go search for her, give me a second…" She put her hand behind her head and took off her hair clipper, letting her long blonde hair fall.  
"Aaa! Much better! " She said relieved.

"Wow! Your hair is beautiful!" Rider said surprised to see that there was another person besides her with such long hair.

"Hehe…thank you! Now, shall we?" She asked her.

"Sure, by the way I am Rid-" Rider didn't finish her sentence.

"Huh? Didn't catch your name." She said.

"_Ahem_….my name is Medusa! Nice to meet you!" she said smiling.

The woman blinked surprised. "Medusa? From Greek mythology? I never thought that you would be on our side."

Rider's smile faded. "What do you mean?" She asked calmly, but in a serious tone.

"Oh! I am sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It is just that…_ahem_…you are the first divine being I see on our side who's not a god or a demigod. In the base from where I've come, there were only…you know, normal deities. I guess things are different in the main base. Again, I apologize for my rudeness, I didn't mean to offend you. Also, my name is Bishamon, nice to meet you Medusa." She said with a friendly smile.

"B-Bishamon, as one of the four Heavenly Kings?" Rider asked, slightly goggled-eyed.

"Actually that's Vaisravana, mortals think we are the same person, just different names. But in truth, he is one of the four the Heavenly Kings. I am just a goddess of war like Bellona." Bishamon said in a straight face, used to the face of astonishment most people made after learning her identity.

"Oh! So, it's another typical case of mortals' misinterpretation of the divine."

Bishamon chuckled. "Indeed, humans are interesting in general, but sometimes they get things wrong and then, it is us gods who have to live with the consequences. Do you know that I have people who are tasked with transferring misplaced prayers to the appropriate gods?"

"Well…I can't say I ever had a problem with prayers…I am not even a god to begin with. People never worshipped or prayed to me."

"True, true! You may not have religious followers, but you have been a big inspiration to modern mortal culture; movies, video games, books, take your pick! There are millions of people who know about you. But the jokes about you are the best so far…you know like the one where you are depicted topless and you are about to petrify a guy and he's all like _you don't need to petrify me, I'm already rock hard – _aha-ha-ha!" Bishamon burst into a sudden laughter.

Rider didn't share her enthusiasm,but she couldn't help but giggle "Well…yeah, I've seen that one the Internet…it was kind of embarrassing since others who know my identity were with me at the time, but I have to admit that it was creative."

"Oh! So you do like the attention!" Bishamon said teasingly.

"Not as much as you make it sound, but yes! I would be lying if I said I don't enjoy it a bit. I might not have a city named after me like she has, but I've got my face on Sicily's flag, so I got that going for me which is nice."

"By _she, _you mean…."

Rider nodded "The one who transformed me to what I am now, Athena! I used to hate her for a long time, but it is thanks to her that so many people know about me, so I suppose I could thank her next time I see her."

"Considering she's the head strategist for Order's armies, I don't think you will just stumble upon her. Though, I've heard that there will be a major announcement of some sort soon, so she will probably be there."

"Announcement huh? We'll see. On another topic, how come you know Bellona? I mean, she's a Roman goddess of war; how come you a Japanese deity met her? I didn't know she had friends from foreign countries." Rider asked curious.

"Ehm…I was not actually born in the East, that's why I know your myth and about many other myths and legends from Western mythology, but stuff happened and I ended up becoming a goddess of war for the Japanese people. I've actually known Bellona since she was a child." Bishamon said laughing softly.

"Really?! Stories from when Bellona was a toddler! Please tell me!" Rider asked her enthusiastically.

Bishamon grinned. "You never heard about Bellona as a child?! Then, you are in for a treat! Come, I'll tell you as we look for her."

* * *

**Shirou &amp; Tohsaka**

"Come on Tohsaka, we walked up and down this gigantic hall twice by now, every person we asked pointed us to different directions concerning Nuwa's whereabouts. Seems to me that nobody actually knows where she is." Shirou complained.

"Come on Emiya-kun! Just a bit more!" She pleaded him like a little kid who didn't want to leave the playground.

Shirou sighed. "I'm actually wondering where Awilix took Sakura. No offense, but I'd prefer to be with Sakura now rather than with you."

"Oooh! I am sure Sakura and Awilix are doing fine! Wherever they are. Come on, let's ask that big guy who's lifting that boulder over there and if he doesn't know, let's call it quits. What do you say?" Normally she would have teased him for saying something like that, but her enthusiasm to meet Nuwa, put her in good mood; she even seemed to have forgiven him for teasing her before.

Shirou and Tohsaka approached the big muscled guy who didn't stop his lift ups with the boulder, even when they were standing near him.

"Oh! It's you!" He said surprised. "Give me a moment to finish my last set…" He said while calmly continuing to lift the enormous boulder.

"Don't mind us. Take your time." Shirou said, out of respect as a fellow exerciser and a gym teacher.

"He must either be a Roman or Greek god judging by his looks." Tohsaka whispered to him.

"How did you figure that out?" Shirou asked.

"He's wearing a chiton, that's what ancient Greeks and Romans used to wear."

At that moment, the tall, muscled guy gently put down the boulder. "Thanks Geb, it's always nice training with you." He said, looking at the rock.

"_Huh_?!" Shirou exclaimed when the lifeless boulder began twitching.

The massive boulder split into six parts which altogether comprised his body; two rocks with flat surface used as legs, two forked stony hands and lastly his head which was hovering a little over his torso.

"The pleasure…. is….all mine, young hero….! Your strength….will be….of great help….in the upcoming battle…I am…glad that I could help you." The rock named Geb said sluggishly, pausing at regular intervals.

He turned around his head, facing Shirou and Tohsaka; the rest of his _limbs _followed his head's movement with a slight delay. Shirou and Tohsaka were staring at him astonished, unable to think of anything to say.

Ehm…Hi!"Shirou said eventually, after a few moments of awkward silence.

"He…llo!" Geb replied after a small delay. "Niiice….to meeeeet you…..mooortals! Good…bye, now." Geb said as lethargically as before and slowly walked past Shirou and Tohsaka; the floor shuddered a bit with each of his steps.

"This is Geb, Egyptian god of earth. He helps me with my training from time to time. His ability to manipulate his mass at will is great for weightlifting. He is not very good with words, but he is an okay guy and one of our strongest in terms of raw strength." The man said, while fixing his disheveled dark hair.

"Wow!" Shirou exclaimed.  
"This place has all sort of- _thud_" Tohsaka bumped him on the shoulder, in order to shut him up. Knowing Shirou, she was worried that he would blurt out something rude without even realizing it.

"_Ha-ha-hah_!" The man laughed heartily. "I can only imagine your surprise, we sure must look like a bunch of weirdos to your eyes." The man said.

"What? No-no-no! I didn't mean it like that."Shirou said flustered.

The man chuckled. "Don't worry!" He said, patting Shirou friendly on the back; Shirou nearly fall flat on the ground, even though the man barely touched him. "Even I, sometimes am astonished by the appearance of gods from other civilizations. Anyway, what did you want with me?"

"_Ahem_…we were actually looking for a goddess named Nuwa? Have you seen her? Or do you know where I can find her?" Tohsaka asked with a hope in her eyes.

"She's usually in the upper floor, but aside from there I don't know where she frequents. I am sorry…" His words erased all of Tohsaka's hopes to meet up with her newfound idol.  
"As far as I know she's constantly too busy sorting out information she receives every day and also keeping in place the magical mist that shrouds this base. Though, I believe she will come down for the announcement."

"I guess, there's no helping it then. I should wait until then - thanks though!" She said sighting disappointed, unaware that fate had other plans for this meeting.

"Can I ask you something?" The man said in a serious tone, as they were about to leave.

"What is it?" Shirou asked curious, noticing the sudden change in his voice.

The man looked them straight in the eyes; he appeared slightly hesitant, they couldn't understand why though; but from the expression on his face, it was obvious that he was not actually sure if it was a good idea to ask what he was about to.

"All of the gods and goddesses here have heard about your accomplishments over Chaos' servants, but there was something else that drew my attention. Is it true that Berserker's master was the ghost of a little girl?" he asked without taking his eyes off them.

Shirou and Tohsaka fell silent upon hearing his question; from all the questions he could have asked about their battles, he asked about the only thing that they didn't want to talk about; Illya's horrific experience as a ghost; she was awakened from her slumber and was forced to fight for Chaos.  
"Why do you ask?"Shirou asked him, slowly, but clearly, with his head slightly lowered.

"_Sigh…_It's no surprise you didn't recognize me, maybe this will remind you…." The man said.

"Huh?" Tohsaka exclaimed.

"_Ahem_….GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!  
The man let out a bloodcurdling scream which froze Shirou's and Tohsaka's blood; horrifying memories from ten years ago popped into their heads.

"Berserker….?!" They uttered together, surprised.

"That means…you are Heracles. Ilya's former servant!" Tohsaka said.

The man nodded. "You know now why I asked you that. So, is it true? Did Chaos exploited the little girl?" He asked again, serious as before.

Silence again, but this time, it wasn't of the awkward kind; more like _I-do-not-want-to-talk-about-it _kind. Eventually though, Shirou was the one who broke that silence.

"At the time, we thought it was Berserker's madness that caused Ilya to turn into that…thing. Later on, when we learnt about Chaos, things became clearer. We realized that Chaos woke her up and bound Berserker to her, causing her to succumb in his madness as well.  
During the battle….Berserker was teleported to another dimension thanks to Archer's Noble Phantasm; it was then that Ilya broke free from the madness and told us what happened.  
She told us that she remembered seeing a powerful creature when she woke up. It didn't make much sense back then, but now we know it was Chaos…"

Heracles smashed his fist on the wall furious, leaving a large dent on it. He breathed in and exhaled slowly. "Sorry for losing my temper." He apologized in his usual voice.  
"It's just that with every day it passes, there is always one more reason to kill that bastard. And now I am hearing that! I hoped that it was just a coincidence… that it wouldn't be the same girl as the one who summoned my Heroic Spirit back then…I hoped…_sigh…_did you at least put her to rest afterwards?"

Shirou nodded. "We made sure to burn her body, so that her spirit could move on."

"I see…thank you…" he fell silent for a moment. "It may seem odd, but I really cared for that girl. When my Heroic Spirit died and all of his memories passed on to me; they were just bits and pieces of his time with her, his madness prevented him from preserving intact memories. But even from the few things I saw, I could tell that she lived a very sad life; the loss of her parents…the endless loneliness she felt….the despair…  
Sometimes, I wish that I had been summoned in another class, so I could actually speak with her, comfort her…but maybe that was for the best, because she sought friends on her own and you two both turned out to be good friends to her; probably much better than I would have ever been to her. For that I am thankful."

Shirou exhaled from his nose disapprovingly. "You are wrong! The truth is that Ilya treasured you or I should say treasured your Heroic Spirit which was actually you, so that makes both statements correct…Damn!" he mumbled confused.

"What Emiya-kun is trying to say is this. Even if she couldn't actually speak with you, she really cared about you and she even mourned your death while most masters wouldn't even shed as much as a single tear. I've heard her!  
The day you were slain by Saber's evil counterpart, Ilya cried her eyes out that night. Even if she didn't want to admit it, it was painfully obvious from the redness of her eyes the next morning. I still remember from that day those sad eyes staring at me. She cared deeply for you, probably even more than any other master cared for his servant." Tohsaka explained.

"Before she found us, she had only you, she considered you her friend, even if you didn't know. So, in a way, you have actually helped her more than we have, because you were with her for a long time before the Holy Grail war actually started." Shirou said with a smile.

Their words bought a smile to Heracles' face. "I see! Thank for telling me that! I am glad that I asked you after all….and also…Sorry for trying to kill you back then. I know it was a war and that creature wasn't even my true self, but still if he had been successful, things would have been really different now."

Shirou smiled awkwardly. "Well…we're glad we didn't die too."

* * *

**The meeting**

**A few minutes later,**

The meeting was about to begin; all of the people in the hall had gathered in the middle of the room and so did the group. Well, actually there were fewer people in the group now than when they had arrived that was because Crowley and Castiel were nowhere to be seen and Rider had decided to tag along with her newfound friend Bishamon, her old friend Bellona and some other deities. In their place, Isis, Awilix and Heracles had joined the group for the time being. There was also Sol who was eager to join them too, but after getting yelled by Isis for neglecting her duties for too long, she departed with her head hung.

There was also the matter of Sakura's newly restored body which caused all sorts of reactions inside the group. For example Dean and Sam who didn't know her before the accident were a little bit surprised to see her with more curves. For Shirou who had already seen every part of her, her appearance wasn't that much of a surprise to him, but seeing her happy and smiling like that was enough to melt his heart; after all, it was she who had confided to him with tears in her eyes the traumatic experience she suffered in the hands of Scylla and Shirou knew how much it meant for her to be her old self. And of course there was Tohsaka who unlike the rest, she was more interested in the arcane nature of the subject and started bombarding Sakura with questions about the ritual involved; fortunately for Sakura, Isis stepped in and saved her from her interrogator.

Aside from that there was also the matter of the drunken Dean. When Dean met with the group his breath oozed of alcohol and he was slightly tipsy. His drinking contest with Sylvanus had ended in a tie and when he met the others he was struggling to walk straight on his two feet; apparently, Dionysus' wine was too much even for him. Since there wasn't any magic for hangovers they resorted to a more traditional way; Awilix gave him a herb that was said to cured hangovers and it did, but not in a particularly gentle way. The sour after taste that the herb left in his mouth was enough to make him vomit several times which in turn resulted in him being cured from his hangover.

"So, what is this announcement all about anyways?" Sam asked, addressing the gods in the group.

"It's about our course of action from now on." Isis replied.

"Don't you already have a plan?" Sam asked surprised.

Isis glared at Sam. "Do you think the war started yesterday mortal?!" She asked him a rhetorical question angrily.  
"Do you have any idea how much damage Chaos' armies have caused to the divine realms?! How many of our fellow gods and goddesses have they lost their lives to Chaos' servants?!  
Do you know that if you die here in the realm of the god you never reincarnate ever again?! There is no one in this base who haven't lost a friend to Chaos!  
The Nine Realms, Takamagahara, Heliopolis, the Otherworld, The Heavens, Talocan…there's nothing left of them now! Nothing, but the pain and sorrow that lingers inside our hearts.  
Do you have any idea how it feels to wake up every day and realize that the home in which you lived for centuries is just a pile of ruins?! The only place that are still relatively safe from Chaos are: this base, Olympus and the realms of the underworld.  
Do you think that we just met two weeks ago and decided to orchestrate that Fake Holy Grail war in order to find mortals to aid us? No! We've been at war for quite a while now; and that Fake war was the last trick in our sleeve. If we fail in this mission and Order dies, there will be no one able to stop Chaos from plunging the universe into a sea of madness.  
So to answer your question, yes - we do have a plan!" Isis ended her angry rant with a dismissive sigh.

Sam gulped "I didn't mean to-"

"Next time, think before you are going to ask stupid questions." Isis said strictly at him.

"Give the kid a break Isis. I'm sure he didn't mean to sound rude." Heracles said, but Isis ignored his words.

"Be quiet! It's starting!" Awilix interrupted them.

At that moment everyone lifted their heads and looked up. The whole ceiling began dissipating into thin air and from it a smaller platform with several people on it started descending. The platform stopped midair about ten meters above ground.

"Who are they?" Sakura asked.

Isis was the one who answered her question.  
"Those three are the generals of our armies. From left to right, that old, bearded, one eyed man is Odin, the Allfather, don't let his appearance fool you; his natural strength, combined with his powerful Gungrir (_the name of Odin's spear_) and experience in battle make him a fearsome adversary and also his Einherjar army (_warriors of Valhalla_), is the strongest infantry we have.  
Next to Odin, the half-eagle, half-man is Ra, god of sun, leader of the Egyptian pantheon where I belong. Unlike the Norse, whose army consists mainly of the spirits of ancient Nordic warriors, our armies consist mainly of divine beasts, jackals, scorpions, snakes and of course phoenixes the immortal fire birds who rise from their ashes. Phoenixes are among the few divine creatures that can reincarnate even if they die in this realm. That makes them an invaluable asset to our side.  
And lastly that woman in gilded ironclad armor holding that spear is Athena. He is both the general of the Greek army and our head strategist. Normally she would only concern herself with the latter, but with her father Zeus currently in Olympus, holding the line against Chaos, she was burdened with both tasks."

"Oh! Here's Nuwa, you've been asking me about girl!" Heracles said at Tohsaka, pointing at a dark haired woman behind the three generals.

Tohsaka stood on her tip toes trying to get a glimpse of her; it was hard for her to get a good look with so many people around her. "Do you think she would agree to meet me?" She asked him.

"I don't believe that she would have an issue answering whatever question you might have for her, but only if you manage to find her afterwards. She tends to vanish from sight quickly."

"_Hmm_…" Tohsaka rubbed her chin, contemplating what she heard from Heracles without taking her eyes off Nuwa; it was then that she noticed that Nuwa has been smiling mysteriously for a while, but she could have never guessed that the reason – was Tohsaka herself.

"Hey Shirou, what are you looking at?" Dean asked.

"Take a look up there!" Shirou pointed his finger at the hovering platform. "Is that…Castiel?"

"What?! What are you talking ab - _Huh_? You're right! And that's Nemesis beside him. I wonder what are they doing up there?" Dean mumbled.

"Probably something to do with Nemesis' mother - Nox." Awilix butt in their conversation.

"Is Nox that black dressed lady over there?" Dean asked Awilix, she nodded.

At that moment, the whole place went dark and a single vertical beam of white light illuminated the platform. Everyone on it stepped aside, making way for Nox who stepped forth and walked up to the edge of the platform. She stood there silent for few seconds, gazing at the crowd of people below her.

Castiel after having his long conversation with Nemesis in her room was about to leave and meet up with the others, but he was suddenly asked to stay; Nemesis told him that it was a direct request from Nox herself. He was curious why she was interested in him so he stayed with Nemesis. Apparently, the reason was much simpler than he had originally anticipated; she just wanted to talk to him about his diminishing grace and his ability to support Nemesis in battle; Castiel realized that she was just simply worried for her daughter's safety as a mother. So he picked his words carefully in order to reassure her that everything was okay; he admitted that he wasn't at the top of his game, but also told her that he had borrowed angelic grace from his comrades in Heaven before the Fake Grail war started, so he could use it if he or Nemesis was in a pinch. In the end, Nox told them to stay with her for the announcement; so he and Nemesis ended up standing on the same platform where the armies' general stood on and from where Nox was about to make an announcement to the whole base.

Observing Nox from the shadows, Castiel couldn't help but notice the similarities between her and her daughter. Aside from both wearing headgear that covered their eyes; they were both giving off the same vibe – a fascinating mysteriousness that made you wonder what that woman is thinking. Aside from that though, Nox unlike Nemesis wasn't wearing battle armor; not that what Nemesis's armor looked much like traditional equipment; especially her steel wire stockings made her look more like a BDSM dominatrix than a warrior. Nox's clothing on the other hand comprised only from her dark purple mask and a frilly, long, dark-black dress.

Castiel's thoughts were interrupted by Nox voice when she began her speech; her voice was loud and echoed throughout the hall.  
"Before anything else I would like to welcome our guests of honor. We welcome you mortals and we hope that your powers will indeed be of help to our cause.  
I have been told that you already know most of what you need to know about the situation, all that's left is for you to learn about the details on how you will infiltrate Chaos' base and how you will reach the chamber where the second part of the Hand of the Gods is being located. I am not however here to explain you this though! This is Athena's task!  
The reason I chose to stand on this pedestal and give a speech was because Order herself asked me to. She wanted me to make sure that you are indeed as capable as the gods who posed as your servants reported you are –" At that moment Nox split into seven black smoke clouds each one travelled towards a different member of the group and entered their body.

Nemesis watched with anxiety as Castiel beside her suddenly fell on his knees and remained still, looking like a lifeless corpse; of course the same had happened to everyone else in the group when Nox entered their bodies; they didn't even had a chance to react. The crowd of gods around them observed them with curiosity; knowing how dreadful and terrifying Nox was; none of them wanted to meet one on one with her and they could only pity the unfortunate souls who had the misfortune to be interrogated from Nox herself.

Nox was a primordial force, one of the first which Order created from Chaos' flesh and the one from whom many aspects of life came to be; Love, Hope, Joy, Forgiveness, but she was also the mother of Death, Hate, Despair, Woe and Vengeance; Nox is mother to them all and while she does not share a direct biological bond with all of them as she does with Nemesis who is the embodiment of Vengeance and Divine retribution - she considers all of the gods and goddesses her children and loves and protects them equally, as any mother would. It is for her children she has taken upon the task Order has given her; only two primordial entities survived Chaos' onslaught they day when he declared war on Order: Chronos the god of time and Nox who got saved by Order herself after getting mortally wounded by Chaos.

A few minutes passed like that - in total silence with everyone watching the group; a dark aura had surrounded them, going around their bodies in circles like a hurricane of darkness. And then suddenly, the hurricane disappeared and a cloud of darkness exited their bodies out of their mouths, just as it had entered; the dark clouds gathered in one place and Nox was back in her initial form and position, standing there as if nothing had happened.

Several minutes passed before the Nox's victims started waking up one by one; only them knew what Nox had done to each one of them while she was inside their mind and none of them was willing to talk about it; the fear of what they had experienced was painted all over their faces.

"Master, are you okay?" Awilix asked Tohsaka as she knelt above her.

"Sakura!" Rider called her name loudly when she saw Sakura's eyes flutter.

"Tsk…I feel like my head is going to explode." Tohsaka said as she tried to sit on the ground. "How are the others?"

"The brothers seem okay, they were the first to come around, along with the demon and Castiel - then you sister's husband woke up and finally you two. Isis examined you while you were unconscious to make sure that you were all physically intact." Awilix explained.

"What about Nox?" Tohsaka asked.

"Ehm…she's already gone, she left as soon as she was done with you. Also, the announcement is already over; everyone have already dispersed. The only thing that's left was to let you know the strategy that we will be following for our mission." Awilix said.

Tohsaka sluggishly turned her head around and noticed that the rest were in similar condition like her. "What happened…was it true…?" She mumbled under her breath as she gathered the strength to stand up.

"Attention everyone!" A loud female voice reached their ears; it was Athena the goddess of wisdom and this army's head strategist.  
"Allow me to welcome you as well mortals! And I would also like to express my gratitude towards you. We are really grateful for your help and we hope that together we can put down that abomination which destroyed our homes and killed our families." She gave them a warm welcoming speech.  
Athena took a quick glance at the small crowd in front of her. "I see you've returned Osiris, welcome back."

"It was a pity that I missed the announcement, but I had some business to attend to in the underworld." Osiris said.

"Well, you didn't miss much! Just us getting brain-raped by that crazy woman who you guys call leader." Dean complained frustrated.

"After everything, we've been through - you had to test us? Again?!" Sam added to Dean's complaint.

"I apologize for whatever my mother forced you to go through. But since you managed to face the deepest fear which my mother let loose inside your mind that means that our leaders have at last recognized your value. Everyone here already knew that of course; we already saw how you faced Chaac and Scylla before; I am sorry that the higher ups wanted their own confirmation." Nemesis stepped in and apologized politely.

"Bollocks! You can take up your _sorry_ and shove it up your ass. I don't care if you are _sorry _and I don't care if you are _grateful _or whatever; just tell us the freaking plan already!" Crowley barked angrily at Nemesis.

Isis gave a sharp glare at Crowley who didn't fail to notice it, but chose to completely ignore it. "I think it is time to explain them the plan Athena." Isis said expressionlessly. Without taking her eyes off Crowley.

Athena looked at each one of them one more time before she started speaking.  
"The situation as you already know is dire! Olympus, my home, is the last major stronghold that hasn't succumbed to Chaos yet. We have of course other, smaller military bases, but their purpose is to gather intelligence, not defend an area. Unfortunately, Olympus is under siege from Chaos' armies for weeks now. It is the only thing that separates us from his armies and it must be defended at all costs. Or at least that's what we want Chaos' to believe."

"What do you mean by that?" Castiel asked her.

"Hephaestus my brother has fortified the whole mountain with powerful magical defensive fortifications: traps, turrets, drones even automatons. With his technology and with the help of the gods stationed there and of course the might of my father Zeus who leads the garrison, Chaos's armies had had a hard time taking over the place. Their numbers have been thinned out quite a bit and as a result Chaos' was forced to send reinforcements, leaving his rear exposed to a surprise attack. That's where our armies here will strike and create a distraction for you; when our armies break inside his base, you will split up from the main force and start searching for the second half of the Hand of the Gods. Our informant inside Chaos' base _(*mentioned in the previous chapter_) has told us that in order to get to the room in which the artifact is located, we'll have to do down.  
"_Walk past the main staircase and enter a hidden trapdoor at its left side._" That's what the informant said; so far his words were truthful and helpful to our cause, let's hope that this will be the case as well."

Everyone exchanged meaningful glances between themselves once Athena ended her explanation; it felt as a wave of uncertainty had suddenly risen up and smacked them on the face.

"You say that we will launch a sneak attack on Chaos' base; how will you move your armies without getting detected?" Tohsaka asked.

"That's what Janus is here for. You see those gigantic whirling blue gates?" She said as she pointed at the enormous gate at the far end of the hall.  
"Normally, these gates lead to outside the base where our armies are stationed, but with a slight tweak Janus can make them lead to outside Chaos' capital base."

"Why didn't you use those gates from the beginning then? Since they are so convenient." Sam asked her.

"Each one of these gates takes a massive amount of magical power to be built and only Janus himself can do it; Order had ordered him to have them built as soon as the war started and according to Janus, they are one way gates, which means that once everyone had passed through - there would be no return for any of us! Athena said in a grim tone.

"So, it's either victory or death…" Shirou mumbled.

"But what about your friends in Olympus?" Sakura asked.

"They had been fine up until now, they only need to hold out a little bit longer, once Chaos' realizes that we are in his backyard, he will call off the siege and summon his armies back. Of course we expect some resistance, but it will be much less compared to facing the whole might of Chaos' horde."

"_Less resistance _means nothing to me, how much are we going to face?" Crowley asked her.

"About a third of our combined armies and most, if not all of Chaos' servants. Even if they are far from his base, he will call them to his aid when he spots us. Our job is to keep them busy for as long as we can until you complete your mission; even if we have the advantage in numbers, we shouldn't underestimate them; who knows with what foul magic has Chaos empowered his soldiers?"

Despite her confidence all along, Athena sounded a bit troubled when she mentioned Chaos' empowerment magic. They all knew exactly why; they had faced two of his servants before and it took careful planning and the combined forces of all of them in order to bring them down and those were just the cannon fodder. The strength which Chaos had given to his subjects was not to be taken lightly; even if the people who had partnered with a god could maximize their magic output, it was unsure if even then their partner could match in power one of Chaos' servants.

"If you don't have any further questions I would be- huh?" Athena stopped mid-sentence and stared at the direction of one of the gigantic doors ; someone had entered through the gate, but instead of standing, he was lying on the ground.  
"Hermes?! What is he doing? Hey! Hermes that better not be one of your pranks – Gods!" She uttered terrified and dashed to his side, followed by the rest of the group.

"…"

"_gulp_"

"Oh my god!"

"That-"

"Who could do this?!"

Those were their progressive reactions to the sight which they came across; the gruesome image had been etched in their brains now and it would stay there forever. Words were not enough to describe the horror, the pain and the torture which person had been through. That man on the floor was all beaten up with bruises and burn marks all over his body, his armor shattered, his clothes torn to pieces, dripped in his own blood and both of his legs broken.  
"Hermes! What happened? Who did this to you? " Athena asked him in a desperate voice. "Someone, call for help…" Nobody moved for a second; they were too shocked to react.

Osiris then shouted loudly, his voice echoed throughout the hall. "We have an emergency!" A few moments later, people started entering the empty hall.

"Hermes, tell me, what happened?" Athena asked him softly.

He slowly opened up his eyes and met her teary gaze.  
"Chaos' forces rendered Hephaestus defenses useless and in a matter of minutes the place was overrun…even Zeus's lighting was not enough to drive them back…everyone was massacred…our brothers and sisters and everyone on Olympus is dead…even father…they killed him - in front of my eyes, took off his head."

Her arms and head dropped, she felt her knees weakening; for a moment there she couldn't believe what she was hearing. The thought of being an awful prank or simply a nightmare that would go away once she woke up passed her mind. That kind of shock was too much even for her.  
"What about you? Did they let you escape to pass on that message?" She asked when she mustered a bit of composure.

"I don't know…maybe they wanted to show…that they are not afraid of you…or maybe they just wanted to torture and humiliate me – _haha-cough-cough-cough_" his laugh of desperation ended up with him coughing blood.  
"We have underestimated them sister…Chaos' servants are on a whole other level than us…only Nox is capable of going toe to toe against them…but even she cannot take them down alone…we stand no chance with or without the mortals' help…it is over…Olympus has fallen…and soon this base will follow…" he said in a soft, weak voice and closed his eyes - never to open them again.

* * *

**WIKI**

You can google them, if you really want to know about them, but I thought it would be nice if I provided you with a small explanation for each of them.

**Sol: **Norse goddess of the Sun, considered to be the actual sun in some versions. Sol was tasked to bring out the sun each day and her sister the moon each night. Fenrir's sons SKoll and Hatti were said to devour them when Ragnarok came.

**Ratatoskr: **He's a figure from Norse mythology, fulfilling the role of messenger sort of like Hermes did for the Greek. He is a squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages.

**Houyi: **In Chinese mythology, Houyi is revered as a god of archery. He is considerate a hero and protector of mankind since he saved it from many disasters and villains. His greatest feat was the killing of the sunbirds who almost scorched the world. Houyi killed nine of them and let the last one alive to bring out the sun each day. Though he was hailed as a hero from all mankind, the gods were angered with him and even though he managed to ascend to godhood later on, he was exiled to live his life on a palace on the sun, away from his wife Chang'e who was trapped in the moon.

**Chang'e: **She is a lunar deity and it is said that she met Houyi in one of his travels. When Houyi brought down the nine sunbirds, he was given a vial with the elixir of immortality in it, but instead of drinking it, he chose to wait until he could find another one for his wife, so the two of them would drink them together. However, one time while Houyi was away for a mission, his apprentice broke into his house and tried to steal the elixir, Chang'e in order to prevent that drank the elixir, thus ascending to immortality. She chose the moon as her residence, that's why she became known as a space deity. The Chinese space program is named after her.

**Nuwa: **She is one of the most ancient goddesses in Chinese mythology who is said to have created mankind and also the one who fixed the pillars of Heavens. It was said that that the whole Earth was in ruins, because of the battle between two gods. Their battle brought catastrophe everywhere and also caused the pillars of the Heavens to crumble, bringing the Heavens integrity into peril. It is said that Nuwa along with her brother Fuxi, restored the five pillars which represented the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) and brought balance to Earth once again.

**Tyr: **Tyr is a Norse god of justice which was also revered as a god of war. According to his legend, the Gods under the guise of a test of strength tried twice to bound Fenrir (son of Loki) and twice he broke free. On the third attempt, Fenrir sensed a trick and demanded one of the Gods place their hand into his mouth. If the bindings proved magical, Fenrir would bite off the hand, Tyr agreed and placed his hand inside the beast's mouth. While supposedly he had a chance to save his hand, Tyr chose not to, because he had given his word and he believed that even a beast like Fenrir deserved to be treated fairly.

**Freya: **Also known as Freia, Fraya or Freyja. She is the Queen of the Valkyries and she is also revered as goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, war, and death. Valkyries guided the souls of the brave warriors who had fallen in battle towards Valhalla in order to fight when Ragnarok came. Nevertheless, Freya didn't give all the souls to Odin, she demanded half of them as a price for her services. Aside from matters of war, Freya known for being the target of many powerful Jotuns (monsters in Norse mythology)who were hoping to make her their wife.

**Aphrodite: ** Aphrodite is a Greek goddess primary affiliated with love and sex. In many myths, she has been known to cause quite a stir with her behavior and her nefarious plots. Some of her most known deeds include, the love spell she cast on Helen which made her fall in love with Patroklos which eventually lead to the Trojan war. Or if you remember from FSN, the love spell she cast on Medea (Caster) which was the reason Medea did what she did.

**Sylvanus:** He is a Roman deity of woods and fields. He is also described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, protecting in particular the boundaries of fields. The tree **Groover** which I included in the story is how Sylvanus is portrayed in SMITE. Groover himself is a reference to Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.

**Bellona: **The goddess of war for the Romans, they had Mars (aka Ares) as well, but Bellona was more widely revered in ancient Rome.

**Bishamon : **BIshamon is originally male, but I portrayed her as a woman , because of the anime Noragami (she's one of the main characters there.). Some of the lore in the chapter is based on that anime. Bishamon though is indeed a god of war and good luck for the Japanese and it is revered even today. Vaisravana is his Hindu name where he originates.

**Hermes : **He is the Greek messenger of the gods, protector of travelers and patron to thieves. He has also been appointed the voice of Olympus from Zeus himself.

**Athena: **Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and war. But unlike her brother Ares who is revered as a god of war who represents prowess in combat. Athena represents the tactical genius and strategy required to win a war.

**Takamagahara: **The Home for Japanese Gods

**Heliopolis: **Didn't find any lore about the home of Egyptian gods. So, I decided to use the name of one of the most ancient Egyptian cities.

**The Otherworld: **Home for the Celtic Gods. Wikipedia actually refers to it as the realm of the dead, but also mentions that it is the home for many deities and

**The Heavens: **The home for Chinese Deities. The name isn't exactly accurate, but most of the lore I've found refers to their home as the Heavens.

**Talocan: **Mentioned as paradise in Mayan and Aztec lore so I assumed that there it will be the home of the gods or somthing similar :P


	35. Minions have spawned

_I'm back again, sooner than I expected.  
Despite my work, I've been writing like a machine-gun these days. Maybe it is the university after all which puts me back,  
__because I haven't stopped playing games, that's for sure :P_

**_Happy Reading!_**

* * *

The gruesome death of Hermes along with the news he carried were enough to send the whole base into disarray. A few hours ago everyone was relatively calm and composed; they knew what was lying ahead of them, but now - now, most of the people in base were in a state of constant anxiety and fear that at any moment Chaos' forces would be at their doorstep.

As soon as the news reached Nox's ears, she immediately called an urgent strategy meeting in which the group was allowed to attend, since its decision would directly affect their immediate course of action. The meeting was tense; the personal emotions run deeper than they usually were. It was obvious that those news had shaken the composure of even the most reliable and calm minded gods.

In the end, their war plan changed drastically from the original. It was unanimously decided that the armies would stay back and protect the base from Chaos' forces at all costs; if his forces could reach Order, it would be all over. As for the group, Janus would use all of the magical energy stored inside in his three magical portals to bypass Chaos' base repelling wards and teleport only the group and their partners inside – an impossible feat for any god, but not for the god of portals and transitions from whom dimensional travelling was as normal as breathing.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare yourselves! For you shall become witnesses to the greatest feat of dimensional travelling of all times. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Door!" Janus said excited to the group who didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

"You name your greatest creation _door?_" Crowley asked a little bit ironically.

"Not just _door! _The Door! With capita _D! _This Door will teleport you inside Chaos' base and not only that – it would also transport you as close to your final destination as possible; I've pinpointed its location as accurately as possible based on the information we have." Janus explained.

"So, once we are there – we should be relatively close to the artifact's location, right? And according to what your leaders said there wouldn't be any of the Chaos' troops inside the base, so the only resistance that we may face would be Chaos' servants." Tohsaka made a brief recap of the plan.

"Yes, but we still won't be able to teleport back until we are out of this base. So we may have to face some of Chaos' army on our way out." Osiris said.

"Granted that we will survive that long…"Dean mumbled under his breath.

"It won't be the first time we'll die now, won't it?" Sam replied jokingly.

Dean let out a small chuckle. "No, I guess it won't be."

"It's time to shine Master! Let's go kick Chaos' butt!" Awilix said grinning at Tohsaka, she returned the gesture with a confident smile on her face.

"Just so you know, I can't guarantee your safety. I only need your magical energy – if you want to hide when we get there, then please do so, there is no shame in fleeing from a fight."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to? I am the King of Hell! I couldn't care less about the fate of your world or whatever, I fight to protect everything I've worked so hard for. I won't let that joker Chaos take my gains away from me." Crowley gave a _strong _reply to his servant Loki.

"-and Castiel if I tell you to hide behind me, you will do so, okay? And if I tell you to run, you will do so, okay? And if-"

"Nemesis!"

"If I tell you to-"

"Nemesis!" Castiel said louder than before.

"_Huh? _What is it?" She asked.

"I get it! I'll follow your lead and do as you instruct me, but I want you to promise me that you won't do anything extremely reckless. I've made a promise to your mother to keep you safe." Castiel said in a serious voice.

"M-my mother made you promise that? Doesn't she realize that she should cast her personal feelings aside and focus on the enemy ahead. We have no time worrying about our own safety if we want to defeat Chaos." Nemesis stated boldly.

"Sometimes….sometimes, our true enemy is not the man who stands before us, but someone who stands beside us. I've learnt this lesson the hard way…" Castiel said in a regretful tone.

"I can tell that you want me to teach me something, but I am not sure I follow…" Nemesis said.

"It's nothing…just be sure not to put yourself in unnecessary danger." She nodded at him, tightening the grasp around her jeweled longsword.

"Shirou! Don't you think that you should talk to Sakura about the thing you've been asking me about."

"Come on Rider, there is a time and place for everything, but not now. It is not the right time!" Shirou said.

"Why does that excuse sound familiar…anyhow, at this rate you will never say to her what you want to say. Come on, go-go-go! Hey Sakura!" Rider called her over and at the same time turned around and went to _talk _with Isis.

"Why did Rider call me and then run away?" Sakura asked Shirou as she approached him.

"Hey Sakura! So…I was thinking….you know, now that we are getting married and you are having a baby. I was wondering about the name of the baby-"

"And…?" Sakura asked with a slight chuckle.

"Honestly, I'm not really good coming up with names, so I decided that If it is a girl, I' d like to name her _Ilya_ and if it is a boy, I'd like to name him after my foster father, _Kiritsugu_. What do you say?" He said in one go without blinking or taking a breath.

"Hmm…a good name…a good name…" Sakura mumbled as she brought her hand on her chin. "As you know, I don't have the fondest memories from my father so, if it is a boy let's name him _Kiritsugu_. But for a girl would you mind if we named her _Aoi _after my mother?"

"Thank god, for a second there, I thought that you would suggest naming her after Tohsaka - _ahahaha_…" They both laughed heartily after a brief pause.

"_tsk…_" Rider clicked her tongue.

"So…Medusa, why are you exactly spying on them? Were you hoping that they would give their first child your name by any chance?" Isis asked with an unusually huge grin on her face.

"What?! No-no-no! I just wanted to know the name...only that!" She said flustered, blushing a bit.

"Is everyone ready?" Janus asked them after waiting a while for them to finish their small talk.

"We're ready Janus, send us in! And for your sake, be sure to not to pull any kind of pranks this time." Isis warned him with a stern look on her face.

"Don't worry Lady Isis, even I, know that not all times are suitable for my elaborate pranks –"

"_I wouldn't exactly call them elaborate though. You just make people fall._" Dean thought to himself.

"Anyway, please hold tight to one another and don't let go until everyone is there; sometimes, it takes longer to travel to the same place, because the particles move through different dimensions in order to arrive to the same destination. It's what I like to call _lag-_"

"Spare us your lecture and beam us up!" Crowley said displeased.

"_Hmmph_…as you wish! Watch your step now!" Janus said as he pushed the air in front of him, opening several portals on the ground beneath their feet; just like he did when he transported them from Shirou's home to the realm of the Gods.

A few moments later, they were there.  
"Everyone alright?" Osiris asked as soon as they landed on solid ground, going around to check up on everyone.

"We're okay, but where to now?" Castiel asked.

"It looks like we're inside a building. So does that mean that Janus's successfully transported us inside Chaos' base?" Tohsaka asked.

"_Hmm…_we're certainly inside the base. I can feel my magical energy reverberating with the energy which the Hand of the Gods permeates. I'm sure you can feel it too." Isis said, referring to the immortals among the group.

"So, that's what this annoying tingling is." Crowley complained as he scratched his head anxiously.

"I don't feel anything." Sakura said.

"Me too!" Shirou added.

"Neither do we." The Winchesters said.

"Remember, the Hand of the Gods was constructed as a countermeasure to control the Divines. You don't feel that tingling, because you are mortals and it doesn't affect you as it is. But it reacts to anything that originates from the entity which we call Divinity; that includes, gods, angels and demons." Isis explained.

"We should move out. I am sure that they already know that there has been an intrusion." Awilix prompted them to move, with a silent nod thee started running towards the direction Isis indicated them.

* * *

As soon as they had fallen inside the portals a side door opened up and three people walked inside. It was Nox, Athena and Nuwa.

"Have you sent them safely?" Nox asked.

"I did the best I could so that they could land inside the base and as close to the vault as possible." Janus replied. "You should stop worrying for them and focus at the matter at hand. I am no expert, but even I can feel the magical energy of the forces that are approaching and it's huge! Am I right Lady Nuwa?" Janus asked, looking at the head of security of this base.

She nodded with a troubled look on her face. "Ever since we got those news from Hermes about Olympus, new reports from my familiars have been arriving constantly. And as you know my scales react to high concentrated magical energy. See for yourselves!"  
With a wave of her hand, a significant part of her purple, silk robe dissipated into thin air, revealing a fair amount of skin; her arms, ribs and inner thighs were covered with glowing, white scales.  
"The shinier they are, the highest the amount of magical energy in the air. If I were to compare it to their usual brightness, it would be like comparing a desk lamp with a huge fluorescent ceiling light."

"Your human comparisons always befuddled me Lady Nuwa. But I'll assume that it was not a good comparison for us." Janus said.

"No, it really isn't." Nuwa said as she reverted her clothes to their original form.

"As we speak, the other two, Ra and Odin are organizing their armies for a defensive battle. With my father, my brothers and sisters and a large portion of our army gone, I am responsible for the fate of the rest of the Greek army." Athena said.

"Have you decided on a plan?" Nox asked.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Athena said half-angry.

"Watch your tone child! You're talking to me, not your fellow gods. Remember! You are the general of our armies and commander of the Greek army, you bear a responsibility towards everyone. They depend on you to lead them." Nox said in a strict tone.

Athena inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "I apologize for losing my cool. My feelings from before have yet to subside….  
_Ahem…_Let me explain you our course of action, the plan is to hold the line with the Greek hoplites and Norse Einherjars, while the Egyptian divine beasts will provide ranged artillery and aerial support between fixed intervals. Gods' will be deployed with the troops in the battlefield and at strategic positions around the base. Chaos will also sooner or later send out his servants to aid his own army; we will focus all of our firepower on them; the troops are no match for them and even us will have a problem fighting them. That's why I told everyone not to take them on, unless it is three to one at least."

"Do you think you can hold out until they come back?" Nox asked Athena.

"…" Athena remained silent for a moment, before giving her answer.  
"Twelve hours! Sixteen at most! I don't think we can keep them out of this base longer than that. Unlike Olympus, this place is not as well fortified. After that my estimate is that this base will fall in about 5-6 hours and all that considering that I have not underestimated the power of Chaos' forces." Athena said with a stern look on her face.

"I see." Nox said briskly. "I'll have to speak with Order, considering our situation, I may be allowed to lend you my strength in this conflict only. Also, Nuwa! I know that you will be busy with the communications throughout the battle, but do you have magical energy to spare? Nox asked her.

"Depends…what do you have in mind?"

"Are you capable of spawning an additional army with your magic?"

"You are aware that I downright opposed to using my children as cannon fodder!" Nuwa said slightly insulted.

"I am. And I am not asking you to create living, breathing human beings, just an army of mud soldiers."

"_Hmm…_I'll have to disable the protective mist around the base and also need a huge amount of fertile soil."

"Mr. Geb might be able to help with the latter. He's a god of earth after all." Janus said.

"The mist won't hide us if they are right in front of our doorstep, so when they are within firing range from the base, drop the spell and summon your army." Nox said commandingly.  
"How much time do you think you can buy if you have an extra army as large as all of our armies combined?" Nox asked Athena.

Athena took some time calculating the variables inside her head, before giving her reply.  
"It's hard to predict such a thing. Those mud soldiers are not an army you can directly give orders to. Still, with their numbers we might be able to hold them off for at least 6 hours."

"Fine, proceed with this one then. I'll summon you again once I speak with Order. Nuwa, return to your duties - Athena, you're dismissed for now -Janus, come with me. I would like to visit Chronos, before speaking with Order."

"How is he? Has his condition improved? You never really talk about him." Nuwa asked.

"…"Nox said nothing, but as she was about to exit the room she stopped. "He has yet to wake up." She said without turning around. "Let's go." She said at Janus and they both left the room, leaving Nuwa and Athena alone inside.

"_Sigh…_I could never understand her. That mask, she constantly wears doesn't help either." Nuwa said in an effort to lighten the mood a bit.

"_Hmm…_I think she's scared… scared, sad and troubled with everything that's been going on. She's not like she used to be during the Golden Ages of the Gods. Cold, expressionless, calculative, absolute, the epitome of a perfect monarch!  
She's gone soft, maybe it is because she and Chronos are the last living primordial forces; maybe her close encounter with death made her rethink her whole perspective on life. She knows that she's not one of the dominating powers anymore and that scares her, as she fears about her future." Athena said.

"Maybe you're right Athena, but not entirely! I think that there are more reasons which would explain her current behavior. Maybe if we survive today, she would indulge us sometime."

* * *

They have been running inside the base for a while; Isis who was more sensitive to the _tingling _than the rest, was guiding them based on her intuition; in other words they were going wherever the _tingling _was stronger_._

"It's strange, we've running for a while, but we have yet to encounter a single enemy." Shirou said.

"If we assume that Chaos sent all of his servants to conquer Olympus and our main base, it's not much of a surprise. And there wouldn't be any army grunts inside the base to begin with-" Nemesis said.

"Turn left here – _running noises _\- Now, bring down this door!" Isis said in a commanding voice as she pointed at the large metallic gate before them.

"Stand back!" Osiris said as he stepped forth; the dead flesh and bandages on his right arm were torn to shreds, revealing a blueish, phantasmal arm.  
"Aaah!" he yelled as his punch cut through the air with supersonic speed-

_Click_

He stopped himself as soon as it was to connect. The door cringed and slowly opened by itself; a strong smell of rotting flesh reached their nostrils, a smell so intense that Sam and Shirou barely held back their urge to vomit. The place was dimly lit, there were some lit crackling bonfires across the place, but the place itself reeked of death.

"It's one of them! One of Chaos' servants." Isis said briskly.

Her words instantly put everyone on edge. Shirou materialized his short-swords, Tohsaka readied a spell on one hand and held tightly on some gemstones on the other, Sakura made a partial Avenger metamorphosis, transforming only her arms. The Winchesters, Castiel and Crowley took out their usual weapons which had been imbued by the gods with the power of heroic artifacts from the past; For example, Dean's and Sam's pistols have been granted the relative power of Odysseus and Hippolyta's bow. Castiel' s angelic blade had been blessed by the Nordic rune Tywaz _(Tyr's symbol, an arrow facing upwards)_ by Tyr himself as an apology for his rude behavior earlier; as for Crowley, his servant Loki engraved some Jotun symbols on the blade which were meant to make the blade able to cut through rock like butter.

The gods readied themselves as well. Awilix materialized her hunting spear with the purple gemstone at its tip and also, Suku appeared beside her; Isis took out her golden, winged staff and the hieroglyphics on the hovering disc behind her, glowed brightly; Osiris took out his flail and sickle, while a blue aura surrounded his whole body; Nemesis and Rider who already had their weapons out, readied themselves; and finally Loki just stood there without moving a muscle.

"Aren't you going to draw your weapon?" Nemesis shouted at him.

"Not yet, this is not my fight and it's not yours either." He replied calmly.

"What do you mean by-"

"Show yourself you vile abomination!" Nemesis question was cut short by Awilix's angry voice.

_Hahahahahahahahahaha_

A creepy laugh from the shadows echoed throughout the room, giving them the chills.  
"Who would have thought?! You came indeed!" A hoarse voice reached their ears; they heard footsteps, growing progressively louder as the figure to whom they belonged to slowly approached the open door.

"You know him?" Tohsaka asked.

"Oh yes! Yes, she does!" The voice replied to her question. "In fact, why don't you tell her Awilix? Tell your human master! Tell her how well we know each other!" At that moment, the figure revealed himself to them.

His appearance was just as creepy as his voice. He was short and scrawny, with dark- gray skin and was only wearing a tribal-cloth skirt and several adorned ornaments which were not obviously just for decoration; they were brimming with magical energy. He was holding a wooden staff with a glowing, red-crystal skull atop of it. Lastly, he was wearing a huge, in comparison to the size of his head, mask on his face which had the design of a human skull adorned with black feathers and with two long horns protruding from its mouth.

"Chaos knew we were coming?" Awilix asked, ignoring the provocative comments the enemy said a moment ago.

"_Hahahaha_!" The man laughed creepily. "Did you really think that we would actually let you, insects, inside our base just like that?! Even now, my minions march forth, claiming this world in my name!"

"That's enough, it doesn't matter if you knew we were coming. I won't let you hurt one of my friends again."

"Second time?" Tohsaka mumbled in a low voice.

"Oh! Haven't you learnt your lesson yet? Well…even if you haven't! I am sure your friend Chaac has. He's become one my most loyal minions- _hahahahaha._"

Awilix tightened the grip around her spear, she was ready to charge at him at any moment, but for now she held back; only glaring at him with bloodthirsty eyes; the usual happy-go-lucky expression on her face was nowhere to be seen. Instead, fury and hatred were painted all over her face. Suku, her jaguar pet, was restless as well; standing by her side, growling menacingly at the masked man. It was quite obvious at this point that those two parties had met before in the past and they had a score to settle.

"I am a kind master though…I would never…separate my minions from one another…So, what do you say?  
Would you…care to join him?"  
At that moment, two bullets of dark energy were shot with blindingly fast speed towards Awilix and Suku.

_KAPOW_

But they never reach their intended targets. Instead, they smashed on an invisible wall of light right in front of them. Despite the sudden attack, Awilix and Suku didn't budge a muscle.  
"Thanks…" Awilix said abruptly.

"Don't mention it!" Isis replied.  
"Now…let's take down that necromancer! I've always hated those who used magic to defile the dead." Isis said angrily; the rest of the team raised their weapons as well and prepared themselves for battle.

"Hold! We cannot afford to stay here for long. You have to keep moving." Awilix said.

"Don't be stupid! This is not some kind of competition! We will all take him down quickly and then proceed together." Isis shouted at her.

_KAPOW_

"Tsk…" The man clicked his tongue as his second barrage of dark energy bullets failed to break through Isis's barrier.

"Even if we attack him all at once, he will either flee or call his allies. It's better if I fight him alone-_grrr- _I meant with you Suku." Awilix said calmly.

"She has made her mind. We should move out." Nemesis said.

_"__Sighing- _watch out!" Isis said to her as she walked past her.

"Everyone! Take cover behind Isis's light shield! Mortals! Stay close to your partner- you, girl! What are you doing!" Osiris shouted at Tohsaka who had moved beside Awilix.

"You said it – _stay close to your partner –_ that's what I am doing." She replied confidently.

"it's no time for jokes girl-"

_KAPOW _– this time, an even stronger barrage smashed on the light screen.

"Master! What are you doing? You don't need to stay here to provide me with magical energy! Our link is strong enough as it is. Go with them! It is dangerous here!"

"I am staying!" Tohsaka stated adamantly. "Even if we succeed in our mission, there would be none to escort us back if we let you all to fight Chaos' servants alone. You said it yourselves! They are way stronger than you are and even with our magical energy, it is not sure that you can take them on. But what about if we fight them two on one?"

The necromancer was preparing to launch another barrage when he heard Tohsaka's words and decided to stay his hand.  
"So…you think you can take me on…? You?! A mortal woman?!  
_Hahahahaha – _ I like this woman. She has a nice sense of humor. She will make a fine slave once I'm done with her."

_KAPOW_

"Honey…I can't keep this barrier up forever. We have to go!" Isis said to Osiris, then turned her attention to Tohsaka.  
"Young lady! You better live through this one. I had high hopes for your future as magus, it would be a shame to die now."

"Don't worry…I don't plan to…" Tohsaka said smiling confidently, taking out a couple of her jewels in the process.

"Let's go!" Isis shouted.

_KAPOW- KAPOW- KAPOW- KAPOW_

"_Tsk…_He won't let us." She mumbled as she put more of her magical energy to fix the barrier which had cracked in places.

"Master! No matter what, do not go one on one with him! Follow my lead and we will take him down together! And also….thank you!"

"Let's go Suku!" She said as she jumped on him. "You too Master, come on!" She pulled Tohsaka on Suku as well. "Suku! Charge!"

"Die insects!" The man yelled as he launched several dark energy spheres at them. "Die-die die-di-what?!"

_Fooooooosh_

"Now! Everyone move out!" Osiris shouted, prompting them to move.

"_Tsk…_he dodged it…" Awilix clicked her tongue displeased at the fact that her spear failed to pierce him.

"W-worm…you dare raise your hand against your Master. I will make learn to respect me-"

"You talk too much- _POW_" Tohsaka emerged from the shadows; she was standing right where she supposedly climbed on Suku, meanwhile the Tohsaka next to Awilix disappeared.

"Who would have thought that your parlor tricks would be useful for once Trickster. Nice illusion spell!" Isis said at Loki.

"Why thank you, but we should leave before that joker comes around." Loki said with his usual grin on his face.

_Sighing from Crowley_

They burst through a shut door which Osiris broke open with his fists at the far end of the room, leaving behind their comrades to fight the necromancer.

"_Spitting blood…_That trickster…will pay….once I get my hands on him! - _grunting_\- Well…I suppose that for now, I will keep myself entertained, by making you two submit to me!" The man said in a creepy, threatening voice.

_Grrrr – _Suku growled menacingly at him baring his sharp, shiny fangs.

"_Brr…_this guy is creepy. Is he from your pantheon?" Tohsaka asked.

Awilix nodded. "Yeah, one of the evilest and foulest of the Mayan Death Gods-"

"_Hehehehe…_ "I come from the darkness of the underworld... and all will tremble before me!" The man softly tapped his staff on the ground once.  
"Minions, servants, soldiers of the underworld, rise and obey the call of Ah Puch!"

* * *

_So that's it._

_The war has started! A war on two fronts._

_Hope you enjoyed this prologue for the events to come._

* * *

**Gods' WIKI**

**Ah Puch:  
**He is one of the Death gods for the Mayans. In SMITE he is portrayed as an evil necromancer, so I decided to go with that personality. He's an awesome and very fun god to play and has one of the best voicelines in-game. If you play SMITE, you might have noticed them in the story; I've quoted them a couple of times.  
**If you don't play SMITE, you can find his voicelines and any of the gods mentioned in the story voicelines by googling:  
"****_ god's name_****" smite voicelines.**


	36. Wrath and Vengeance

_It has been a reaaaaaaaally long time since I wrote and posted two chapters within the same month!_

_I may be able to post another chapter before I leave for vacations which will be around 10 August, depends on my brain's mood; sometimes he just freezes and I can't write anything :P_

_If you have been following the story so far, leave a review to tell me your thoughts about it and my writing style._

_Personally, I feel that I need the most improvement in describing events in a short and exciting manner that would keep the reader reading.  
That's why, I would like to hear feedback from the ones that have been reading the story for a while now._

_Anyway, that's about it, hope you enjoy the story!_

**HAPPY READING!**

* * *

**Order's headquarters, Nuwa's office.**

Nuwa had partially assumed her snake form because her magical scales made it easier to communicate with the rest via telepathy; basically, she was half snake from the waist and down.

"Drat….the familiars' reports keep coming…maybe I should deactivate some of them and keep only the closest ones to Chaos' army operating, that way I can conserve about 23.4% magical energy….

Yes-yes, I am here…_Huh_? Odin? What message do you want me to give to Ra?

_Uhuh…uhuh…uhuh_…roger. I'll tell him that Freya and her Valkyries will join his aerial squadron of phoenixes. Over and out.

Now, where did I put that…_who is it now?_

This is Nuwa! What is it, Athena? – I understand! I've passed your message to Xbalanque earlier and he thinks that he will be able to do what you asked. I'll speak now then with Rama, Houyi, and Sol and tell them to be on standby for when it happens. Are you sure that those three will be enough? – Yeah, I know Sol is a powerhouse, but still…. – yeah…yeah…yes, okay, I'll tell them right away – what? no, I have heard from neither Nox nor Janus since we were together earlier. I'll contact you if something occurs.

_Now then…_

Sol! Rama! Houyi! This is Nuwa! I have orders for you three from Athena-Any questions? – Are we clear then? - Roger, over and- _huh?_ What is it, Sol? – No Sol, I can't create a direct line with your Sam! He's in Chaos' base, remember? Telepathy doesn't reach him inside. Nuwa out!

_Sigh…_that woman….

* * *

**Somewhere else inside the base,**

"Enter!" A warm, woman's voice spoke out loud; the door opened and Nox came inside, she was holding a candlestick with four small, lit candles with purple flames.

"You know…hiding you inside my own darkness is kinda of a bother for me. I can see clearly through every person's darkness, but I cannot see through my own. Well, I suppose those candles came in handy for once." Nox said jokingly.

_"__Hehe_…you say every person's. Can you see through my darkness?" The woman asked in a teasing tone.

Nox pouted her lips. "You know that I can't see through yours as you can't see through mine. Not that I can hide much from you; You are the one who created me after all. Children cannot lie to their mothers! Right, Order?" Nox said to the young woman sitting on the chair opposite to her.

-_Chuckles_-

The young woman slowly stood up and fixed her straight, black hair and dress; a frilly dress that was exactly the same in design and length as Nox's but white instead of black. Her pale white skin reflected the light inside that plain, bleached-colored room they were inside, making her look as if she had showered in glowing dust.

"I've always found that particular place inside you, the most comforting one. I don't know why, but when I stay here I feel at peace, calm, confident; it is as if all my worries are gone…I wouldn't have expected from the primordial being that represents the night to have such a warm and fuzzy place inside her." Order said jokingly.

"Well…I can say for sure that everyone has a glimpse of light in his darkness. It would be strange if you had designed me otherwise." Nox said.

"Well, I suppose it would. Though at that time, I wasn't really sure what I was doing. That's why I failed so miserably in almost all of my efforts. You never obtained the sense of sight and you passed on that trait to your children which made them be born blind." Order said regretfully.

You always make it sound so dramatic….Even if it was hard at the beginning, I believe they turned out fine; all of them: Nemesis, Thanatos, and Hypnos. None of them can see, but that hasn't stopped them from living. As for myself, thanks to that headgear you created for me, I can use my power to create temporary eyes." Nox said comfortingly.

"Maybe…the truth is that each one of my failures at the beginning of time led to even worse failures as time went on. The whole universe was basically constructed by the primordial beings who were my children and I failed my children, I failed to make them perfect and consequently the universe which was created was filled with flaws, because I was incompetent." Order mumbled in a sad tone, ready to burst into tears.

"Order…"

"And now…and now, because I failed _–tears welling up –_ Chaos, someone whom I loved and used to call father wants to kill you all  
_\- teardrop rolls down her cheek-_  
He wants to take back that universe from me, destroy it and shape it anew because he says that I failed him." At that point, Order wasn't holding back her tears and was actually crying her eyes out in front of the astonished Nox.

"I knew she was growing more unstable, but this…." Nox rubbed her chin skeptically.

"_Ahem_…do not worry, I am sure that the mortals will manage to return victorious with the Hand of the Gods. And then, you can put Chaos in his place, so we can start rebuilding what we lost."

"_Snotting-_ thank you for your emotional support! I really mean it. Ever since this war started I've been losing it slowly and you are the only person I can confide to. If any of the gods saw me like this, they would lose all faith in winning." Order said trying to put up a confident smile, but with little success since her red from crying eyes weren't helping to look the part.

"So, what brings you here Nox? I've sensed that the mortals have left a while ago and that his army is currently marching towards our base. How are the preparations proceeding?"

"Fine, Athena has everything under control, despite the sudden loss of her father Zeus and her brothers and sisters; she stands strong and has devised the perfect plan for our situation. The rest of our generals are doing their best of course, each one busy with their own armies and Nuwa deep into her communications' room as usual."

"When my children died in Olympus, I felt a stinging pain in the chest. It's been like this every time one of my children died to Chaos." Order said, grieving.

"Right…" Nox clenched her fists. "I wanted to ask you something…would it be acceptable to participate in this battle only."

Order's eyes opened wide when she heard that. " I thought we had discussed this…" She said in a serious tone, hanging her head.

Nox realized her mood swing and tried to calm her down. "Listen to me, you didn't want me to fight at the start, because if I did Chaos would realize that you are hiding inside me, but now…  
Now it is different! This is our last battle. It doesn't matter if he realizes it. We are still going to fight him and his armies at the end of the day. So I was thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to help the young -"

"Absolutely not!" Order shouted in a commanding tone. A brief pause ensued.

"I want to help them…I really do want to help them Nox! But this is a battle which they have to fight alone." She said in a soft-spoken voice.

"I will need your strength for when we get the Hand of The Gods. It is a powerful artifact by itself, but even I am not sure if it can weaken Chaos to the point where I can subdue him. That's why we will need all the help we can get at that point…" Another few moments of silence passed.

"Have you done what I asked you to?" Order asked.

Nox inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "I did, but I still don't like it. It's too dangerous for them."

"We will only absorb a tiny portion of magical energy from each god before we use the Hand Of the Gods. If we had told them, they would have yet another thing to worry about, besides fighting Chaos. It pains me to hide such a thing from my children, but it has to be this way." Order stated with woe in her voice.

"Me too Order…me too…".

* * *

**Chaos' Base, first room.**

"Take that! _\- POW-_ So you think can dance _huh_?" Ah Puch mumbled when Awilix dodged his dark energy ball which crashed on a rock behind her smashing it into bits.

_"__Tsk….She's still fighting with his zombies while he has me and Suku constantly on the move. In order to take him down, we'll have to eliminate all of his zombies first…if that is even possible. I must find a way to block his connection to the underworld…but before that, I must help her."_ Awilix glanced at Tohsaka from afar who was fighting Ah Puch's zombies which were coming after her.

_-Zombie sounds-_

"Wind and Feuer, Combine! - Feuersturm!" Tohsaka yelled, swinging her hand in an arc in front of her; a gust of blazing inferno engulfed the group of zombies approaching her turning them to ashes; just like the few hundred zombies before them, their death was silent, no screams of death, their rotten flesh was incinerated down to their brain and they just ceased to exist.

Tohsaka noticed that most of the zombies were not from this era, most of them were people wearing ancient, tribal clothes, some of them dating back to the pre-classical period while the most modernized zombies belonged to the corpses of Spanish Conquistadors who could be easily recognized by their distinct helmets, called Morion.

_"__I have killed so many of them that I've lost count. At this rate, I will run out of jewels or magical energy soon…If only their bodies are resistant to my Gandr shot. Those two…are not looking too hot either, he keeps them at bay with his energy spheres while maintaining a meatshield of zombies around him, even if they manage to get close, his zombies will block their way. If only I could understand how he keeps summoning them…."_ Tohsaka glanced at Awilix's and Suku's side of the field.

"Rise, my minions! Serve your master once more! Ah Puch yelled, raising his staff high above his head; the red crystal skull on his staff glowed brightly

_-Earth shaking-_

Zombies, they had returned once again. Their rotten hands swinging left and right as they were trying to climb the chasms on the ground. They were five open chasms in total and even though Tohsaka tried to block a chasm with an Earth spell, another one opened up immediately so, she gave up on that idea.

"_Huh?_ Was that a-" Tohsaka mumbled as she glanced around the room. "_Tsk…_I guess there is only one way to find out." She said decisively, taking five jewels out of her satchel.

She threw them high above her head.

"Erde! Feuer!" Two gemstones glowed light green and deep red respectively.

"Wind! Wind!" another set of gemstones shone bright yellow.

"Wasser!" the last gemstone glowed cobalt blue.

"Elementario!" She shouted with might; standing still, with open hands, and her head facing upwards.

A circular tetragram with clockwise, curved edges and appeared on the ceiling; on each of its four sections, one of these words were showing with glowing, bright letters.

_地球__(EARTH i__Traditional Chinese__) _

_火__ (FIRE __Traditional Chinese__)_

_颶風__(HURRICANE __Traditional Chinese__)_

_水__ (WATER __ in Traditional Chinese__)_

"Fire! Earth! Smite my enemies! Winds! Blow away the dust of their carcasses! Waters of time! Wash away their sins!" Her loud voice echoed throughout the room.

"O-ho! That woman is…gifted! Maybe, I should change my plans that I have for her." Ah Puch said to himself when he saw the shining tetragram on the ceiling.

"Master…what…are you doing…?" Awilix mumbled questionably after bearing witness to Tohsaka's powerful spell incantation.

The zombies were only a breath away from Tohsaka; they had her completely surrounded and slowly made their way to her; walking with their arms stretched, as if they were trying to grasp the air in front of them. They approached her, they were practically a second away before their hand would be within reach of her body.

She opened her eyes; the blue color of her irises was brighter than usual, but it wasn't just her eyes; her whole body was engulfed in a blue light; the reinforcement magic she cast on herself, had worked and that glow was the proof of it.

"Evil shall be cleansed!" Tohsaka shouted and brought down both of her arms.

"What?! This is Nuwa's spell! When did she-" The image of Nuwa giggling passed through Awilix's mind.

She smiled faintly. "_Tsk…_that crafty snake and her telepathy…no wonder she knows everything about everyone in base…she must have known that master was looking for her and contacted her herself when she had the chance…but when did this happen? And why didn't she tell me anything?"

The temperature inside the room rose significantly. The tetragram shone even brighter than before. A large whirling cloud of white smoke encompassed the ceiling and at this moment the whole room lit up from the heavenly light that was coming from inside the clouds.

"_Giiii…_What trickery is this?! How can this mortal woman know a divine incantation such as this?!" Ah Puch shrieked as he looked on the ceiling. "She must be stopped…." He raised his staff and pointed it at Tohsaka.

"Jump!" Awilix commanded Suku who immediately obeyed his master, jumping above the crowd of zombies surrounding Ah Puch and lunged viciously at him with Awilix atop of him of course.

"_Gaaah_" Ah Puch cried in pain as Suku's sharp claws dug inside his collarbone.

"Die insect!" Ah Puch screamed at the top of his lungs, letting out a massive pulse of dark energy, blasting away Awilix, Suku and his own zombies in every direction around him

At that moment, the clouds turned crimson, flaming meteors began crashing down inside the room; obliterating the crowd of zombies around Tohsaka. The crashing meteors were so impactful that Ah Puch was forced to raise a protective ward around him; Awilix as well called upon the moon's power and enclosed herself and Suku in a silver ball of light. The meteor shower was short but devastating; it ended in a matter of minutes but the scenery had completely changed. The room had been engulfed in flames; flaming debris, burning dead bodies all around the place; everything was either crushed, burnt or both.

And then it happened again, white clouds encompassed the ceiling and that heavenly warm light bathed the blazing room; but this time instead of flaming meteors, violent gusts of winds blew, intensifying the flames; the winds grew stronger with each passing moment until they formed a mini hurricane inside the room. The winds raged, sucking everything in their path; tombstones, trees, rocks, huge boulders even the flames were sucked inside the storm, creating a bright, crimson, blazing tornado which tore apart through everything inside the room, including the walls.

Just like the meteor shower, the tornado subsided within a few minutes; leaving a huge cloud of dust caused by the falling debris. And then it happened again; for the last time, the white cloud and the heavenly light appeared and this time, it was a rainfall, a downpour to be precise; similar to Berserker's rain, but ten times stronger; it was as if the whole room was under a giant faucet. Tons of water came crashing down on them, carrying away the fallen debris in the process, leaving the whole room practically empty.

"Insolent worm! Do you think you have won?!" Ah Puch yelled furious at Tohsaka.

"_Heh_….Not yet." She smirked and raised her right arm, revealing her family's magic crest and pointed her finger at him.

"Weak magic such as this won't work on me." Ah Puch mocked her

"I can't say the same for your charms though – Gandr shot-" A black ball of light formed at the tip of her hand. "- Magic missile mode!" The big, black sphere burst into five small missiles.

"W-what?! W-when did you-" Ah Puch stuttered.

The magical missiles flew through the room at supersonic speeds, before hitting their intended targets which were none other than Ah Puch's charms of the Underworld.

"Master, what happened? When did you get so powerful? What did you do?"

"Save the questions for later…for now, make sure to take him down. I've destroyed his connection to the Underworld, those hidden charms were his trick. Now, he can't freely summon any more zombies to aid him. This is your chance!

As for me_\- cough-cough-_ I guess…I overdid it with the spell. Don't worry about me, focus on the fight! Kill the bastard!" Tohsaka encouraged her while she sat down on the floor and leaned on the wall behind her.

"_Heavy breathing_\- So, you used that divine spell to weaken the protections I had put on my charms and then destroyed them with your own magic. Clever girl!

I wonder…when did you realize that there were charms, to begin with…No matter though, my minions were just the beginning. It is time to move on to the second part and call our special guest for today." Ah Puch slowly raised his staff and then violently tapped the ground with it.

The moment he did, a purple lightning came crashing down at that spot and a sound which they had heard recently reached their ears once again.

_"__GRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"_

"Say hello to your old pal Chaac! The zombie version of him_\- hahahahahahahahahaha_" Ah Puch burst into a hysterical laughter.

At that moment Tohsaka's brain froze momentarily; she couldn't believe her eyes; she thought that she was seeing things because of her fatigue, but then reality struck her hard when she realized their dire position. According to the rules of magecraft, in order for a magus to summon a familiar, he must be at least five times stronger than the intended familiar which meant that the necromancer Ah Puch was at least five times stronger than Berserker whom they had barely fought to a standstill with serious losses on their side. And now the two of them had to deal with both of those monsters and she was already in bad shape due to that large scale spell she had just cast.

Tohsaka was frozen still with fear; she was staring at her enemies with terrified eyes

_"__We can't…we'll die…I will…die?...No, there must be something….._

_I can't think….my mind is frozen…what about her…"_ She glanced at Awilix, but in her place, she saw another person; at least that what she thought momentarily.

Tohsaka's brain confirmed that the woman she was looking at was surely Awilix, but she had never seen her like this before. Surrounded whole by a mystic aura, her body paintings were glowing brightly; the crude wooden shaft of her hunting spear was now polished and refined; the purple gemstone at its tip was now sharp and was brimming with magical energy. Her long dark hair which she always had tied up in a high ponytail were loose, messed up, falling over her face. But the strangest thing was that Suku was nowhere to be seen; Tohsaka assumed that he had gone back to his ethereal form, but then she saw Awilix's new features. She had feline ears, a tail and her skin looked like Suku's, yellowish with black marks on it. As Awilix turned her head, Tohsaka noticed her eyes, they were the eyes of a hunter! Ferocious! Brimming with killing intent! They had marked their target and they were not about to let him escape.

"So…the kitty finally revealed herself! It was about time…If I knew…that all it took to flip your switch, was to show you the empty husk of your pal whom I killed, I would have done so in the first place….Now then, come here kitty-kitty-kitty!" Ah Puch said mockingly, hitting the floor with his staff.

Berserker instantaneously grabbed the gigantic axe next to him and readied himself for combat; he was behaving more humanlike than when he was being controlled by Ilya, but Tohsaka knew that this was just how powerful Ah Puch's control was in comparison to Ilya's. Awilix fell on all four while still holding her spear with one hand; her eyes locked on her two preys. Tohsaka could feel the bloodlust in the air between them; none was concerned with her, so she slowly stood up and trudged away as far as possible from the epicenter of the upcoming clash. She heard two powerful battle cries, before the clash; there was a shock wave which caused her to trip and fall, but as soon as she was on her feet again, everything was already over.

* * *

**Chaos' Base, Corridors.**

"This way!" Isis pointed towards a staircase on their left; they rapidly started climbing the massive staircase.

_Tap-tap-tap-tap_

"Do you think nee-san will be okay?" Sakura asked Shirou as they were climbing up the stairs.

He smiled at her. "Tohsaka's a tough nut to crack. She will give that creep a run for his money." He said confidently, but in truth, he was also worried for her.

"We have to trust them and focus on the road ahead of us." Dean said.

They finally reached their top and stopped for a moment for those who needed to catch their breath. Castiel looked down from the balcony, it was a long way down around thirty to forty meters or so.

"We should move out!" Nemesis said to the group.

"_Exhaling-_ I'm getting a signal at the end of this hallway. I doubt that it would be this easy, but we must see what's behind those doors." Isis pointed at the large, adorned wooden gate at the end of the corridor.

They started running towards the door, but when they reached it and Osiris put his hand on it, it disappeared like a fleeting mirage in the desert.

"What the hell?!" Dean exclaimed.

"Must be some kind of illusion magic, but I can't- Oh no! The corridor!" Isis said at a loss.

When they looked back, the corridor which they had just crossed was nowhere to be seen; it was no longer a corridor; they were inside a large, round room with white floor, marble animal statues, and fountains.

"Tsk…What in the name of the sun is going on?" Isis bit her thumb nervously as she was trying to find the source of all that.

"Guys! Look!" Sam shouted, pointing at a pile of rocks which had replaced the adorned door where they were standing in front of.

"Bollocks…." Crowley uttered fed up with their luck.

"Loki! Can you dispel the illusions?" Isis asked.

Loki shook his head. "_Nah…._ I'm only good at creating them because they are fun, I have no idea how to dispel them unless they are my own." He said, but his words didn't seem to carry the required seriousness for their situation.

"Can't we just force our way through them?" Osiris asked her.

"And go where?!" She yelled at him. "We have no idea if there is even an obstacle, to begin with. We might as well be punching the air and wasting our energy!"

"Cool yourself!" Rider said to her in a calm tone.

"That's right! If it is just an illusion! It can't hurt us, right?" Sakura asked Isis for confirmation.

"You don't know how terrifying illusion magic is, girl! If an illusionist is powerful enough to alter a space so big, so easily then, it is quite possible that he can make us hurt each other. All he has to do is make us see things! Plant images in our heads!" Isis explained worriedly.

_-Exclaims-_

"You mean that he can make us see each other as enemies?!" Sakura muttered, Isis nodded.

Her words had an immediate effect among the group, they started exchanging suspicious glances between them, something which Osiris didn't fail to notice.

"Stop it! We can't let something like this spread discord and mistrust among us. Stay calm and we'll find a way to overcome this!" But his speech seemed to have little effect on them, as they instinctively split into groups.

On the one side the mortals along with Castiel and Crowley and on the other one the gods.

"You're wise no to trust me master, but everyone can be wrong from time to time-" Loki said with a mischievous grin on his face "- right, big guy?!" He glanced at Osiris.

Osiris remained silent, giving him a stern look, but his wife was not as patient as he was.

"Don't you dare bring this up, Trickster!" She barked at him furiously.

Loki was referring of course to how Osiris had in the past foolishly placed his trust on his brother Set, despite everyone's warning him not to. In the end, Set betrayed him and killed him, usurping the throne of Egypt for himself. Set even went as far as to hack his body into several pieces and hide them all over the kingdom in order to make sure that his brother wouldn't be coming back to life. But thanks to Isis and some of the other Gods who helped her find his pieces after many hardships, Osiris came back to life as undead. For the ancient Egyptians, the dead were sacred and were treated gloriously, that's why they built the pyramids which served as grandiose mausoleums for the pharaohs; it was considered a great blasphemy to mistreat a dead person's body that it was said that the god of sun Ra would burn you alive for your sins.

But so cruel and violent was Set's reign that Isis had to violate this sacred custom in order to bring her husband back to life. She restored his body with magic and had sex with him which resulted in her conceiving Horus, the prophesized child who ultimately brought an end to Set's reign and restored peace to Egypt. Horus reigned rightfully ever since, until he was killed, a little while after the war broke out. He sacrificed himself in order to save some of the weaker gods who were in the same base as he was; Egyptian gods mourned his loss that day, but the most pitiable were his parents. Isis and Osiris, they were grief-stricken, especially Isis, it was the first time ever since her husband's death that Isis cried with woe, her cries overcame the barriers between the realms, reaching even the depths of Purgatory, alerting its mistress Eve, that something was happening in the other dimensions.

"Oh! Did I hit a nerve…?" Loki asked mockingly.

"That's enough!" Osiris shouted.

_-Inconspicuous angry Mumbling-_

"_If this escalates any further, it won't end well for us…._Please…everyone, stop fighting!" Suddenly all eyes were on Sakura.

"I-I think I have a plan." She said hesitantly.

"What plan Sakura?" Rider came forth and asked.

"I remembered what nee-san told me about how you found Caster's hideout. You tracked her magical traces back to the source. I heard it was you Nemesis-san who suggested the idea and performed this feat." Sakura said, looking over at Nemesis.

Attention had shifted now to Nemesis; she knew that the people in the group were depending on her, but she was not sure what to say to them.

"True…among the divines I have a keen sense for distinguishing and tracking down magical energy. But unlike the mortal world where the magical energy on the air is scarce, here it is much more difficult to discern the energy which creates the illusions because the atmosphere is packed with all sorts of different magical energies." Nemesis explained to them.

"But still is worth a try, right?" Sam said.

"Yeah! It's better than nothing." Shirou added.

"You used to track down and punish sinners during the age of the gods. You were hunting them inside the realm of the gods. How can you not use your sense to find the source? Are you mocking us?" Isis asked her angrily.

"_Sigh…_I'm a step ahead of you! I've started searching for the source, ever since the first illusion and I have already located the source and the one behind it." Nemesis stated emotionlessly.

"What?! Why haven't you told us anything yet?" Isis yelled at her.

"There was no need to! I was hoping that you would forget about me and my ability to sense magical energy so that the assailant would drop his guard and make a mistake. I was ready to slice him down in an instant when that happened….

Unfortunately, you-" She faced Sakura. "-you maimed my plan when you mentioned my ability-" Sakura froze still when she heard those words.

Nemesis faced Isis next "- and you, you gave the finishing blow when you shouted out loud that I can track the source easily even in our realm and provided proof for that." Nemesis dropped her shoulders disappointed.

Isis stared at Nemesis, but there was no expression on her face; it was an empty look devoid of any kind of feelings. She had failed the team and even though no one was blaming her or accusing her, she felt terrible. She had let her feelings once more get the better of her; the argument which Loki incited was the cause, but she could not blame him, of course, that would be beyond pitiful; she was blaming solely herself, for letting her anger take over and not allowing her to foresee her comrade's plan, despite knowing her for centuries. She knew that Nemesis was capable, yet she forgot it and when Sakura mentioned it, she was too enraged to think clearly and lashed out at Nemesis.

"Can you dispel it?" Osiris asked Nemesis, ignoring Isis' reaction.

Nemesis nodded. "When I cut it down, it would be best for you to get as far away from his influence; he might be able to trap you again."

"What do you mean you? Are you staying?" Osiris asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm the only one who can go one on one against him. I will buy you time to escape. Use it wisely!" Nemesis stated.

"I'm staying!" Castiel said.

"No you're not." Nemesis retorted.

"Yes I am! I've made a promise." Castiel retorted back.

"No you're not staying!

I don't care about what you discussed with my mother and the promise you gave to her, that you would protect me or whatever, but let's be realistic, you can't do anything here. You're practically useless in this situation….

The opponent outmatches you in every physical aspect, you can't use your angelic magic to its fullest and even the power of your weapon is due to some string-pulling I did; I owe Tyr a favor for engraving his rune on your blade so that you wouldn't die immediately, until I would come to rescue you of course.  
You're weak! Know your place and go where you might at least be slightly useful. This is no place for an angel!" Nemesis spoke harsh words which she had never spoken before; and the worst part was that she was saying all this with a straight face and in an emotionless voice which made the words even more painful to hear.

Castiel didn't react to her provocations, instead, he pulled out his blade from his jacket; the rune Tiwaz glowed brightly, alternating between red and blue, just like the symbol on Tyr's chestplate.

"You won't be the first one to hate me for my actions….Regardless, I am staying!" He said and walked over to her side.

"Is this another one of your tests Ananke*? Even dead, you still like to twist people's lives….I've always been your favorite." Nemesis mumbled in a low angry voice.

"Stop blaming Fate! And find your own way!" Castiel shouted at her.

Nemesis was taken aback from his words; she didn't expect to hear something like that from a person like him. All of her life she was blindingly following rules, pursuing and executing _evil-doers. _Be it mortals or gods, she didn't care, all she wanted, everything she ever desired was to follow the rules that had been imposed to her since birth and live peacefully with them for eternity. Despite her endless patience, she had been emotionally and mentally hurt so many times that she ended up becoming a mindless droid for the higher ups to command. That was the summary of the sad life she had lived until the war broke out.

_"__I guess your interfering in my life turned out well this time mom…"_ Nemesis raised her jeweled longsword above her head; the purple gemstones on its hilt reflected the light of the room which made them look brighter than they actually were.

She channeled her magical energy on the blade and…

_-Hyaaa-_

She performed a vertical slash, slicing the air in front of her and sending out a huge shockwave which travelled along the floor in a straight line; destroying the marble tiles, the statues, the fountains and everything it encountered, until it smashed on a certain statue which in contrast with the others, it didn't break.

_-BOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGG-_

A loud, deafening sound echoed throughout the room, forcing all the mortals to cover their ears in order to protect them. The ringing subsided after a while and then….

"Now! Run away!" Nemesis and Castiel shouted in perfect synch.

Without any hesitation, the group started running towards a large open door which had appeared at the back of the room, it was the door which they had entered the room in the first place, all this time they were standing at a dead end.

Once they were out of sight, a voice echoed throughout the room.

"Cunning…very cunning! I commend you, daughter of the night, for seeing through my perfect illusion. I wasn't even aware that you could dispel it or even track it back to me in the first place…too bad your comrades betrayed and failed you once again."

"Where is this voice coming from…?" Castiel mumbled.

"Watch out!" Nemesis yelled, shoving Castiel away.

_-Slash-_

_-Klank-_

Castiel fell a few meters away but quickly rose up with his blade at hand. Nemesis had saved him in the nick of time from suffering a fatal injury on his abdomen; the enemy aimed low, too low and too fast for him to react, but not for Nemesis who parried his sneak attack and was now in the middle of a heated swordfight with the enemy.

_\- Steel clashing -_

They locked blades, glaring each other. "You finally showed your face, Ao Kuang!" She said with contempt.

* * *

**GOD'S WIKI**

**Ananke: **Her names comes from the Greek word «ανάγκη» which is pronounced "Anagkee". She is the primordial being which was related to fate and causality. Along with the rest of the primordial beings Ananke has died from Chaos, that's why Nemesis says that she is dead.

**Horus: **He was to the ancient Egyptians what is Jesus to Christians. Some compare Jesus to Horus, to the point that they claim that Jesus legend is a copy of Horus'. That of course had been debunked by archaeologists and historians a long time ago, but people stll believe despite all the proof.

**Ao Kuang: **I'll reveal more about him in the story later on, so I won't say much now, except that the illusion trick I came up with was an inspiration from one of his abilities in SMITE.


	37. Demons Dragons Death

**The new update is here!  
Fortunately, I managed to stay ahead of schedule and finished this up earlier than I initially thought I would.  
I really did enjoy writing this one and I hope that you will enjoy it too as well.  
If you feel like it, let me know what do you think about it in a review.**

**Quick Summary: **The group entered Chaos base, the first pair to split from the main group was Awilix and Tohsaka who stayed behind to fight Ah Puch. Tohsaka using magic which Nuwa from the base taught her, managed to destroy Ah Puch talismans which allowed him to summon endless minions from the Underworld. This gave an opening to Awilix but unfortunately, Ah Puch summoned the corpse of Chaac aka Berserker to fight for him and Awilix was forced to fuse together with Suku and transform into a half-jaguar half-human creature.  
Later on, the group walked into an illusion trap and were unable to escape, but Nemesis thanks to her keen senses managed to find the source of the illusion and destroy it and if it wasn't for Sakura and Isis intervention she might had been able to strike a surprise attack on Ao Kuang who was the master mind behind it. Finally, the group fled, leaving behind Nemesis to deal with Ao Kuang since she was the only one who could not be fooled by his illusions; also, Castiel after a heated argument with Nemesis managed to convince her to let him stay with her and aid her however he could.

* * *

**Chaos' Base, before the invasion**

The large gates leading inside to Ah Puch's room opened with a loud creaking sound. At the doorstep there was a god, wearing a brownish scale armor and on top of it a royal military uniform .

"Hmmmm…What is it Dragon King? What do you want here?" Ah Puch asked him in a low, annoyed voice.

The god stepped inside the dark room; the smell of death hit him hard. Due to his dragonic nature all of his senses were enhanced including his sense of smell thus, the impact of the odor that came out of Ah Puch's room was quite severe and that was quite obvious by the disgust on his face as he slowly made his way towards Ah Puch.

It was more like a slow march than walk, but that was something he was doing innately thanks to the extensive military training he had received; his right hand was hovering a little above the pommel of the sword he had strapped in its sheath on the left side of his waist; another habit that his military training had left him with. He was walking like that so that he would always be ready to defend himself against an assassin which in his life he had faced and killed many.

"This place reeks of death and rotten human flesh…." The god complained out loud.

"Well thank you. The Mayans didn't name me the Horrific God of Death and Decay for nothing! But surely….you didn't come here to complain about the smells in my domain. You must have some….business here.  
What do you want Ao Kuang?" Ah Puch asked as he came out of his small tent.

"I have an update from Chaos. He told me that soon a group of Order's soldiers will pay us a visit. I thought you should know…" Ao Kuang replied in a cold voice.

"Oh! And you want me to go greet them and say hello? Why don't you go yourself or send someone else. We have so many wonderful minions to use as pawns. I can summon some of them, I still have the carcass of that meat-head god of rain Chaac whom I killed.  
The body may have suffered some damage when we sent it down in the mortal realm, but it is still useful in a fight." Ah Puch said in an ecstatic voice as he rubbed his hands together.

"They are here for the Hand of the Gods, letting just your servants defend it would be irresponsible for a leader-"

"Spare me your speeches, Dragon King!  
Unlike you, I owe nothing to Chaos! I joined him, because a war would be a good way to increase my undead army, he accepted my offer and even empowered me with the same magic as he did to the rest of you.  
But you! You became the sole Dragon King thanks to Chaos. He granted you power beyond comparison in order to slay the other three and slaughter the whole Chinese pantheon, along with your most precious Jade Emperor….  
Tell me, how did it feel…murdering the man who was like a father figure to you?" Ah Puch asked mockingly.

"A vulture which gathers the dead bodies of warriors who had fallen in battle in order to raise an army is not in any way my equal and should learn to hold its tongue before speaking to beings superior to it.  
If not for our truce because of Chaos, my breath would have you sizzling by now…  
Remember vulture, I was more powerful than you even before I received Chaos' blessing!" Ao Kuang said in a frightening, imposing voice at his _'comrade'_.

"Heh…Edgy as always….no matter though, I will do as you ask and prepare a magnanimous reception for our guests!" Ah Puch smirked, but in the dark his smile was hidden from Ao Kuang.  
_"This should be a perfect time to field test my death charms which let me draw power from the Underworld directly and summon my minions without expending my mana…."_

"That would be all…" Ao Kuang said and snapped his fingers, his body was liquefied and formed a small pond of water on the ground.

"A water illusion huh? Were you too afraid to enter the nest of a vulture alone, lizard?" Ah Puch mumbled.

* * *

**Chaos' Base, during the invasion**

Inside a dimly lit room, a lone man was sitting cross legged on a pile of cushions, his eyes closed, he was in a state of deep meditation, yet somehow he was completely aware of his surroundings and not only. He had sensed the intruders' presence, from the very moment they teleported inside the base. And even though he could not tell who was who, he could tell that among them there was one who was exceptionally strong, a cut above the rest. His body trembled with excitement at the moment he sensed that presence, his body was itching to fight that strong opponent.

While he was one of Chaos's generals, the one who controlled the demon armies of Chaos' legion; he was in this war for very different reasons than the rest of Chaos' elite. Thousands of years have passed since he had a good fight and all of these years he had been honing his skills in order to strengthen himself and become more powerful for his lord; not Chaos, Chaos was merely one whom he decided to cooperate with after being instructed to do so from his lord. That man's one and only allegiance belonged to lord Shiva the destroyer.

Suddenly, his eyelids opened up.  
"Hmm….it seems that two of them have already been intercepted….I wonder what kind of warriors did Order send? – Hmph… I'll find out soon enough, they are almost here…  
I **was** intending to give them a warm welcome even if that dragon hadn't asked me to. That power I sensed earlier…I want to fight it!"  
The man slapped his palms together and a faint yellow aura surrounded him.

_THUMP THUMP THUMP_

"What is going on back there…?" Dean said when a loud, hollow sound reached their ears from afar.

"That was Awilix! Her fight is approaching its climax. Also, I can sense that Nemesis is letting loose as well." Isis replied to him as they were running along yet another seemingly endless corridor.

"What do you mean by _climax_? Are they winning?" Shirou asked.

"…" But Isis remained silent.

"What? Why are you silent all of a sudden Isis? Are nee-san and Awilix going t be okay?" Sakura asked her in a worried tone.

Isis turned to face her, she forced a smile to comfort her. "Don't worry. They are both alive and I can sense that they are holding up well…._for now at least…..  
_But you can't get distracted by their fights now, we have to cross this corridor and then-"

_glances at ceiling_

Without a second delay Osiris shoved Isis away and in the very next second a man came crashing down from a hole which opened in the ceiling.

_THUD_

The man delivered a lethal hammer blow with his elbow to the back of Osiris' neck who dropped down and stopped moving altogether.

"Hmmph….is this the best Order can do?" He glanced at Osiris' body next to him and then turned to face them, they were already battle-ready. He smirked satisfied and also assumed a fighting stance.

* * *

**Chaos' Base, 2nd room**

"He is good…I have never seen Nemesis fight so intensely, yet he doesn't seem to be in any trouble. If anything, he seems to be enjoying his swordfight with her…" Castiel watched from afar as the two gods were pitting their swordfighting skills against each other, in a duel that would decide who would live and who would die.

_Hyaa_

_Tooo_

The two gods charged at each other and began trading blows with lighting fast speed, you could only see the colored silhouettes of their blades; a purple one which belonged to Nemesis and a yellow one which belonged to Ao Kuang.

They would trade several feints, thrusts and parries before locking blades, and each time that would happen, they would backstep a few meters away before their next clash.

"They are evenly matched in terms of swordmanship, but what about strength. He has yet to use any kind of spell or power - If only I could help her somehow…." Castiel tightened the grip on his angelic blade, angered with his powerlessness.

_Metal Clashing_

Nemesis and Ao Kuang locked blades once more and after a brief pause, they disengaged. Nemesis was holding her longsword with the purple gems firmly with both hands, she was putting considerable strength behind each swing, in an effort to overpower her opponent. On the other hand, Ao Kuang was holding his sword with just one arm, it was a light, relatively short blade made of a peculiar sparky yellow metal; his swings were incredibly fast and unpredictable, coming each time from a different direction and angle which made it harder for Nemesis to defend against them, especially since her sword was so much heavier than his.

"Well done daughter of the Night! But that was just a warm up! Our fated duel has yet to start…Show me your strength-"

_Dash-Slash_

_…__.!_

In less than a blink of an eye, Ao Kuang was standing far behind Nemesis, his sword had blood on it. They briefly stood still, frozen in place; Nemesis grasping her sword in a defensive position and Ao Kuang with his sword close to his chest. Blood was dripping from the tip of his blade.

"Gah…How did you wound me….?" He let out a small grunt of pain; crimson red blood was dripping from his forehead down to his brown scaly face.

"Huff-huff…._it seems that my retribution shield didn't reflect all the damage back to him…or was I too slow to activate it?_" Nemesis' chest heaved with exertion as she turned to face her opponent.

"I underestimated you… You have my apologies for that. Let those wounds mark the beginning of our duel…..  
Dragons, I summon thee!" Ao Kuang shouted in a thunderous voice and raised his sword.

A white shiny hole opened on the ceiling and from it, numerous, green serpent like figures began descending. They were dragons,

Chinese dragons to be precise. They were neither particularly large nor they seemed extremely strong individually, but there were hundreds of them and more kept coming.

"So that is your idea of a duel… one versus hundreds…no wonder you had to pledge your loyalty to Chaos in order to become more powerful…" Nemesis said in a condescending tone.

"Using ones powers is not considered dishonorable in a duel; I simply invoked a spirit call spell and the spirits of my fallen brethren crossed through time and space and came to my aid.  
Not that you are one to talk though! Our battle so far was technically a two versus one."

Castiel felt the hostility as Ao Kuang glanced at him with his reptilian emerald eyes.

"Not that he can do much, except for watching though. Regardless, you would not have expected the goddess of Vengeance and Retribution to be so arrogant and presumptuous. I had heard many tales of your myth; it was said that you were punishing those who had committed hubris, but I'm starting to wonder….how many times did you commit hubris yourself?"

"Hmph…"

"To me my brethren!" Ao Kuang yelled with might and his sword began absorbing the souls of the dragons around him; like a massive spiritual whirpool, it sucked each and every dragon soul inside the room.

Nemesis noticed the shift of the magical energy in the air; the pressure Ao Kuang was emanating was tremendous. That kind of pressure would be enough to kill a normal human from heart attack and possibly even someone with magical powers faint from it to say the least. Despite being a deity and one of the most powerful ones on top of that, she still felt a slight discomfort being near him, she could only guess what effect this would have on Castiel since he was much weaker than her.

Nemesis glanced at his sword; it was sparking with lightning.  
"My blade cannot match his as it is now; attacking him now would be foolish, in that case…"

She took a deep breath and exhaled to find her concentration. Her legs glowed dimly, she grasped her sword firmly with two hands; and assumed a thrusting position with the tip of her sword facing Ao Kuang.

They weighted each other while standing still in place, nobody moved a muscle; each one was waiting for the other one to strike first. So,

_Kicks ground_

_Dash – Dash – Dash – Dash_

Nemesis started dashing around him at hypersonic speed, Castiel could barely keep his eyes on her moving silhouette; it was as if she was teleporting instead of running. Ao Kuang though had yet to move from his position, he wasn't even trying to keep up with her movements.

"So, that's your strategy!" Ao Kuang mumbled.

_I am the white void…._

She kept dashing around him, increasing her speed even more. At that moment, Ao Kuang made his move, raising his sword above his head.

_I am the cold steel…_

"Blade, unleash your will!" He shouted. Lighting burst through the tip of the blade and spread throughout the room like a spider's web made out of electricity.

_I am the just sword!_

A blinding light emanated from Nemesis' sword, bathing the room in a white color.

"Let the Heavens rage, **Long Xi!**"

"Cut down the Heavens, **Theogony**!"

The two warriors called the names of their swords unleashing the destructive power inside them upon one another.

_BANG-BAAAM-BOOOM_

_CRASH_

Deafening explosions filled the place; a thunderous shockwave blasted everything away, living beings, objects, even the tiles on the floor were torn apart.

Castiel stumbled as he tried to stand up on his feet; his vision was blurry, he felt dizzy, his ears were still ringing from the sound of the explosion, he was not really sure what had just happened. Just before the explosions, the last thing he saw was Nemesis's sword slicing the electric web Ao Kuang had set up and that consecutively triggered those explosions.

"If destroying it caused that much damage, I don't want to imagine what would have happened if she was a moment too late…." He mumbled as he slowly made his way through the aftermath of the clash between the two gods.

There were debris everywhere, the whole room was on fire, black smoke was rapidly filling up the room, he had to find Nemesis and quickly. He called out her name, but no response, only the sound of the crackling fires around him. He kept searching for her, but to no avail, he couldn't find her anywhere. The black cloud was thickening with each passing second.

"Nem- _Cough-cough- cough_…" He tried to call out to her again, but the smoke he inhaled caused him to start coughing violently. He covered his face with his arms and moved onwards, trying to find his companion, but then,

"Stay where you are!" Nemesis' voice reached his ears.

_Slash_

A huge chunk of debris next to Castiel was sliced in half or to be precise, they vanished into thin air. His eyes spotted his partner, despite the destruction around them her armor was as good as new not even a dent. The only thing that was out of place was her head gear, the white cotton cap that used to cover the upper half of her face had been burnt off; Castiel realized that this was the first time he ever saw her _uncovered. _He noticed that she had light blue eyes and despite her being blind her eyes were staring right into his.

"Are you alright? " She asked him.

"I'm fine, I used some angelic magic to protect myself from the sonic wave of the explosion. How are you feeling?"

"_Cough-cough_" She spit out some blood which surprised Castiel, because she looked okay from the outside. "I'm fine…this is nothing."

From the intimidating look she gave him, he didn't dare to talk back to her even though he was worried about her condition. He averted his gaze from her and it was then that he noticed something different on her other than her clothing.

She was yielding a different sword than her usual one. Castiel had never seen that sword, if you could call it a sword to begin with. It had a black, cylindrical blade with a dull tip at its end. The blade was composed of three segments which were slowly rotating; the middle segment spinning clockwise and the top and bottom segments spinning counterclockwise. Across the length of the blade, there were crimson, interchanging letters engraved on it.

When Nemesis sword touched the debris, at first Castiel thought that she sliced them in half, but it didn't, it evaporated them, leaving nothing behind. Even the smoke around them disappeared when Nemesis swung her sword a second time. Castiel noticed that the very air around the sword's blade was being warped, as if the blade's power was decomposing it to a molecular level.

"That's enough!" Nemesis said in a commanding voice and her blade stopped glowing.

"I'm glad you survived Castiel!" She said with sincere joy in her voice. "It was reckless of me to reveal my blade's true nature in that manner, but if I hadn't, we would not have survived the explosion."

"No! If anything I should be thanking you for saving me again…..Nevertheless, what is that? Where is your old sword?" Castiel asked pointing at her new blade.

"It's the same sword as before. I just took out its limiters." Nemesis explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Limiters…?" Castiel said, scratching his head.

"Yes, limiters! The three purple gems that are normally embedded on the handguard of my sword are not just for decoration. Their true purpose was to conceal this blade's true nature and suppress its power." Nemesis explained.

"But why? Is it so dangerous?"

"This sword is called Theogony! The mortals called it Enuma Elish, a name given to it by an ancient Babylonian King who once yielded a fragment of this sword. This blade is able to warp reality itself. It was created by Order who used it to tear apart through the entities which spawned out of Chaos. She cut through each entity and with each cut, a new pair of new entities popped up. Those pairs gave birth to new entities and slowly the universe was constructed. For example, I am the child of Nox and Erebus who represent, night and darkness respectively.

Theogony eventually started losing power, because even though it had some of Chaos' genes inside, it was in the end a construct of someone lesser than Chaos and it could only contain his power for a certain amount of time. The tip broke and its fragment ended up in the mortal realm. Even if it was broken though, the blade was still pretty powerful, so it was eventually been given to me in order to do my job as the one who passes down divine retribution. But I was young and careless and while I was using the blade to do my job I ended up severely damaging the mortal realm on seven different occasions because I could not hold back its power. The seventh time was the last drop for my mother, I came close to erasing from existence not only the mortal realm, but the realm of the gods as well. It was then that my mother forced me to put limiters on my blade in order to make sure that cosmic destruction of that level would never happen again. This is the first time I unsheath it since then."

"_Gulp_….So if it is that powerful, can it take him down?" Castiel asked.

"If he was a normal god, this would be a piece of cake, but since Ao Kuang has been empowered by Chaos himself. I don't know how effective it would be; it would certainly hurt him, but I just don't know-"

_Baaaam_

"Watch out!" Castiel yelled and shoved Nemesis along with himself on the ground; just a moment later a huge ball of lighting exploded right where they were standing.

They looked up. "What the…?" Castiel was left speechless.

It was a dragon, it had a body similar to the small dragons from before, snake-like with four legs, but in contraire with them it was huge. It had long pointy horns and thick green scales covering his body. Castiel saw sparks of electricity discharging from his mouth and also noticed that along his body there was a visible wound which was still fresh.

"_Guh_…about time you showed up your true nature lizard!" Nemesis put on a brave face as she uttered those words, but she was grunting in pain and was breathing heavily. It was obvious that the sword's power had taken a toll on her, normally she would have seen that attack coming long before Castiel, but it seemed like her keen senses had been dulled.

"It was a good fight daughter of the night, your blade may have pierced my scales and scarred me permanently, but it was not enough to kill me.  
It all ends now!"

* * *

**Chaos' Base 1rst room.**

_GAAAAAAARR_

_HYAAAAAAAA_

Two mighty battlecries echoed throughout the room. Berserker charged at Awilix like a rampaging bull. She didn't try to dodge him; instead, she dashed head on towards him, with her spear at hand. They closed the distance between them almost instantaneously, though that span of time seemed like eons to Awilix's enhanced, feline senses.

_40 meters,_

_30 meters,_

_20 meters,_

_10 meters,_

_5 meters,_

_TAP_

Just before she was within Berserker's range, she kicked the ground and jumped gracefully over his shoulder almost as if she was gliding in the air. But she didn't stop to attack him; before Berserker realized what had happened she was sprinting towards Ah Puch, her real prey. She had locked her eyes on him from the beginning, she knew that she wouldn't be able to win them against both Ah Puch and the resurrected Berserker, so she decided to go all in for the killing blow on the real threat.

"Hmph!" Even though he was all the way across the room far from Awilix, Ah Puch realized that he was in immediate danger and raised his staff.

"Jacawitz, give me the strength to crush the earth!" She shouted loudly, calling upon the third god of the Mayan Trinity. The shiny purple gem on the tip of her spear glowed and flaming rocks appeared, attaching themselves on the spear's blade. **

"HAAH!" She thrust the spear in the ground.

_BOOOOM_

The floor exploded unleashing a powerful shockwave which sent Tohsaka flying against a wall, but it wasn't nearly enough to hold back Awilix's stampede.

"Is that all you've got kitten…?" Ah Puch swung his wooden staff in front of him and raised a prismatic barrier to protect himself from the shrapnel of the explosions aka the massive boulders that were flying towards him at high speed.

Without a second delay, she dragged her spear out of the ground and jumped high, avoiding a barrage of energy balls Ah Puch launched at her.

"Tohil, ignite my spear!" She called upon the first god of the Mayan Trinity. Her spear was engulfed in scorching, crimson flames, yet her hand was unharmed from the flames.

"HYAA!" She threw her spear with all her might towards Ah Puch.

_KABOOM_

The spear struck the ground in front of Ah Puch and detonated, resulting in a massive fiery explosion which incinerated the ground where he was standing.

"Weak- weak- weak!" Ah Puch was inside a floating, whirling sphere, hovering just above the blast radius of the fiery explosion.

"Are all the gods of the Mayan Trinity so weak?" She laughed and mocked Awilix.

She landed on the ground and pulled her spear out of the earth. She lifted her head and her eyes locked on Ah Puch's. She smirked.

"That's exactly what the dead gods before you, said." She grabbed her spear with both hand and pointed it its tip at Ah Puch.

"Moonlight, guide my hand! Gravity drop!" The purple gemstone at the tip of the spear changed into a pale silver color. A thin white thread was shot out from the tip and entangled Ah Puch, immobilizing in midair.

"What trickery is this? How did it penetrate my protections?" Ah Puch shouted panicked, dropping his staff in the process.

"Prepare yourself monster!" Awilix brought down her spear, crashing Ah Puch down with tremendous force.

"Guh…help you master worthless minion!" Ah Puch yelled furious at Berserker.

_RAAAAR _

Berserker who was already charging towards Awilix let out a mighty roar when he heard his master's command. Due to the nature of her extraordinaire moon powers, Awilix was able to alter the gravity around the person she had entangled with her spear. They had used the same tactic on Berserker when they were fighting him in Ilya's castle. The plan would have been successful if not for Ilya who created a massive downpour which healed Chaac, just before he died. But this time it was different, instead of the servant, Awilix had the puppet master all tied up and was not about to let her friend suffer any more.

A trained jet fighter pilot can tolerate up to 9 G while he's flying and even up to 20 G for a very brief amount of time, more than that can be deadly for the human body as the pressure might make the heart stop from overstress.

"Rest in peace friend…" Awilix swung her spear as if she was performing an uppercut punch and Ah Puch smashed Berserker from below, hitting him on the jaw with a force of over ten million G.

It was instantaneous, no matter how tough Berserker was, his neck simply could not withstand a blow of this magnitude. His head along with his helmet simply detached from his body and flew across the room, landing at the far side of it; it rolled on the floors like a ball, until it hit some debris which stopped it. The headless giant fell on his knees, a huge fountain of blood gushed out of his neck, painting the floor red and creating a small pond of blood beneath him.

Even though, she was far from the decapitated Chaac, his blood reached Awilix's face, splashing her on her cheek. But she didn't seem to bother in the slightest. To her, the real Chaac had died a long time ago, at the start of this war, long before he was summoned as Berserker in the Fake Holy Grail war. She knew that that evil necromantic magic was in play from the first time she saw him, but at that moment, she was not allowed to share this information with her comrades. So, she bore silently the burden of having to fight against the reanimated copse of her friend. And at the same time, she also made a promise to herself to take revenge on the one who did this, which turned out to be a god from her own pantheon, Ah Puch.

She stared him down with bloodthirsty eyes which were brimming with killing intent. Her face, a deranged mask of fury.

_Bang- Bam –Bash -Bump_

Awilix started swinging her spear left and right, smashing Ah Puch against the four walls of the room, but she didn't stop there. She repeated the motif again, and again, and again, and again; slamming Ah Puch with a force of ten million G against those walls; any normal wall would have crumbled with just one hit from such a force, but not those, their surface was merely grazed. No god that Awilix ever fought had survived this kind of attack for long, most of them were dead in one to three blows, the most resilient ones might had survived a bit more, but there was none who made it out alive from her _Gravity Drop _attack.

"HAAAAAH….._BOOM._" She smacked Ah Puch flat on the ground, raising a huge cloud of dust and a big noise.  
"_Huff…huff…huff…huff…_" She was breathing heavily, exhausted from overexertion, her hands and legs were shaking, she fell on her knees unable to stand on her feet; her appearance reverted back to normal, Suku appeared beside her as well, exhausted as well, he lied down next to her.

The silver rope which connected Ah Puch to her spear, disappeared. She was at the limit of her powers.

"_Huff-huff…huff…_" She was staring inside the thick cloud of smoke where Ah Puch had landed. Her eyes were not feline anymore, but the killing intent was still there, in those dark pupils.

"_Argh_…my head…_ugh_…what happened? That shockwave blasted me against the wall and I think I might have lost consciousness." Tohsaka mumbled as she tried to pick herself up.  
"Right, the battle!" She smacked her cheeks awake.  
She spotted Awilix and Suku beside her. "She's alive! We… we won? Awilix, Are you okay?" She started running to her side.

"STAY AWAY!" Awilix screamed in a voice that froze the blood in Tohsaka's veins.

_KAPOW_

At that exact moment, the area around Awilix was filled with dark energy balls; there were everywhere around her and Suku, there was no place for them to hide or flee, not that they could though. They were trapped and helpless.

A hazy figure slowly walked out of the smoke cloud. It was none other than Ah Puch, but he was different than before. While he survived Awilix's onslaught, it wasn't without a huge cost on his body. He was covered in blood from head to toes, he had open wound which were gushing out blood. The bones in his body were either broken or had completely crumbled into pieces. His arms and legs were deformed, they were looking backwards_, _he was only able to move them thanks to his magic. He was also periodically coughing out blood which indicated, internal injuries to his organs. It was a miracle indeed, but a bad one for Awilix and Tohsaka. Not only he had survived, but he still had power to prepare an attack of this scale.

"Aha….hah…hahah….hahahahah….So…that is the power of the Mayan Trinity. I have to admit that it took me… by surprise.  
I was not…expecting…to be pushed…to the point, that I would have to use….the power which Chaos gave me in order to…survive!  
I underestimated your powers kitten, but it matters not!  
I have won! Ah Puch has prevailed over his foes once again!  
I was thinking of…keeping you. But after you showed such strength, I'm having…second thoughts. Perhaps, I should just kill you and make that other woman my slave…she's human so, it would be easier to maker her….submit to me…hehehe….  
Send my regards to your brothers, kitten!"

_KABOOM_

The black energy spheres were shot at Awilix and Suku, all at once, causing a huge explosion, when the smoke settled down, the only thing that was left was a fragment of her spear.

* * *

**GODS WIKI**

**Ao Kuang: **Ao Kuang was one of the four Dragon kings. He was ruling the East sea and among them, he was the most ambitious and cruel one. To The point that he simply was causing destruction in order to enjoy all kinds of luxurious offerings from the mortals in exchange for simply leaving them in peace. I decided to make him use lightning as his element because that's his sword in SMITE is cloaked in lightning most of the time and he even has an ability which he hits enemies with electricity from his blade. (The name of Ao Kuang's sword, **Long Xi **means dragon breath according to google)

**Tohil and Jacawitz: **They are the oter two gods of the Mayan Trinity, with Awilix completing the trio. One is a sun/fire god and the other a god of nature/earth. This triad of gods were sometimes referred to collectively as Tohil


End file.
